Stray
by fezakyuu
Summary: Dark Rockman and Rockman are brothers on the run from the net police and humans. With Dark Rockman wanting to move on and live without humans, Rockman can't and is finding it difficult to cope and things get worse when he see's a human wandering the net.
1. Prologue

_- Prologue -  


* * *

_  
"Come on Rockman, before we get caught!" A navi called out to his brother who was stood at the end of the entrance of the alley, something had caught his attention "Rockman! What's keeping you, if we wait around then we'll get captured by the net police again, come on!"

It was a while until the sirens of the net police came to both of their attentions which then suddenly jolted Rockman back to the real situation… he ran down the alley to catch up with his brother. "Sorry Dark Rockman… I thought I saw something, so I was just checking…" His brother interrupted before he could continue.

"Don't tell me… you saw _that _human again?" He replied as they ran side by side down the alley, the net police hot on their tale.

"It was a human, no doubt about it… he looks lonely and depressed, almost like we are most of the time."

"I've told you a million times Rockman, humans can't exsist in our world, nor can they get here… you're just seeing things. Besides, we're doing just fine on our own, we don't need anyone else, remember that."

Rockman let his brother get on further ahead of him, Rockman usually acted as a decoy so he could let Dark Rockman get away, but it looked like they didn't really need it today, the siren's had stopped and as Rockman looked back they we're no longer being followed.

They both stopped to catch their breath, Dark Rockman didn't look at all pleased with his brother "Rockman… why do you continue to love human's even though they've hurt you… cast you aside, punished you so much?" He asked hurtfully.

"Because…" he really didn't have anything to say back to that, even though he had a million reasons… all of them would seem wrong to his brother, he just couldn't say. "…I don't know"

"Then, for the good of us both, stop talking about them, and just admit that human you continuously see is just a pigment of you're imagination… In my opinion, you're not getting enough energy in you're system; you're not battling enough. You must be getting weak…" He teased

Rockman smiled a little, looking over at his brother who had begun to walk off into an open link. However, before he did so, he took one last look behind him, before stepping in to the link and vanishing along with his brother.

"_Oh Dark Rockman… why do you hate human's so much…" _Rockman sadly thought, their futures we're sealed as solo navis, they'd never know the happiness of being true net navis ever again.

* * *

Alota things to come ;)


	2. The Past

_-The Past- _

* * *

Rockman and Dark Rockman lay a distance away from each other in an abandoned part of the net… they lived alone with no other navi for miles, they had no connection to any computers so they couldn't easily be found or tracked.

Rockman was having a nightmare again… the same nightmare that he would always have whenever he had seen a human… just like a few hours ago, when he claimed to have seen that same human he had seen many a times before.

____________

_Rockman stopped at the alley, seeing a boy around the age of eleven or even younger walking down a street across from him… it was almost as if the boy knew he was staring at him._

_The boy stopped in his tracks which made Rockman stare at him in confusion 'has he seen me?' Rockman thought to himself. _

_The boy didn't seem to be dressed in much, black shorts with strips of yellow down the sides and he couldn't make out the top as the boy had a beige, brownish cloak wrapped around his neck and swayed down to his bare feet, the cloak itself was like a large double bed sheet… but it looked very thick, enough to keep him warm._

_The boy slowly turned, his eyes were pure chocolate brown… Rockman only stood in complete shock… he wanted to walk over, if the situation with the net police hadn't been so desperate._

"_Come on Rockman, before we get caught!" Dark Rockman called in blind anger, Rockman turned to face him… but didn't stare at him for long before turning his head back to see that the human had vanished… in a mere few seconds, those brown eyes full of sadness and loneliness had gone…_

"_Rockman! What's keeping you, if we wait around then we'll get captured by the net police again, come on!" _

_That was when the sirens had become much more audible of the navi's from the net police; he shook his head slightly and started to run towards his brother waiting patiently for him._

____________

It wasn't the first time Rockman had seen that same child, the first time he had seen him was a few months ago… the boy always seemed to be on his own, he always had the same sad face and eye's… the eye's are what interested him most.

The boy always had the same clothes with bare feet, his dark brown hair and bangs folded over onto a plain blue headband that wrapped around his forehead coming round to the back of the head to tie into a nice knot.

But as much as Rockman had seen him, he'd never interacted with him… his brother had called him crazy and told him he was only hallucinating because he missed being around humans so much…

And it was true; Rockman hated the fact that he no longer had any human contact, the fact that he was a fugitive running from the law… it wasn't even his fault, it was Dark Rockman's… but he couldn't abandon his brother… they'd become enemies and he didn't want that, even if he did have to leave his human partner, but after what happened, he knew that he'd never want to see him ever again.

__________

_Just over a year ago. _

"_Hay, Rockman, Dark Rockman… fancy having a net battle with a couple of friends?" A boy asked_

_At the time, Rockman and Dark Rockman were two navis who were like siamese twins when they we're created, Rockman was the original part of the program when he was created, but as he was being created, unwanted programming accidentally merged with the original creating a second body latched onto Rockman's, who was later called Dark Rockman because of his appearance and look on things. _

_When they were separated, it was decided that they'd be sold together as one… but still be two separate navi's. _

_A boy named Damien had bought them because he lived among a wealthy family… he was a charming boy in their eyes, he was smart… funny… nice… everything they wanted in a net op._

"_Sure Damien sounds great!" They both replied in unison._

_Damien smiled taking the pet with him as he skateboarded over to the arcade to meet up with a couple of his friends, namely Meiru, Dekao, Yaito and Tory_

"_Hay guy's ready to battle?" He smiled placing the skateboard at the side of the small net battle arena. _

"_Sure" Meiru replied happily… she couldn't exactly say no to him; she'd always had a cute crush on the boy. _

"_But…" Dekao added when he noticed the wonderful look she gave Damien "I don't think it's fair if it's two against one… don't you agree Meiru-chan?" He butted in again. _

"_But, my navi's always battle as two" Damien protested, jacking both of his navi's in anyway, they always stuck by each others sides. _

_His friends jacked in their navi's as well "It doesn't matter, today you play by our rules, we'll have one on one, so decide" Dekao replied evily. _

_Damien looked down at his navi's and by his expression, he was asking them to decide._

"_Dark Rockman… you can battle today if you want… you seem like you're really fired up for this match"_

_Dark Rockman grinned, knowing Rockman had made the right choice… "Thank you, Rockman" He replied as he stepped forward into the battle area. _

_First Dark Rockman was up against Dekao's Gutsman, who was a bigger oaf than Dekao… although they were perfect for each other and anyone could tell._

"_Begin!" A female navi voice spoke, Dark Rockman was the first to start the battle up, easily confusing Gutsman as he dashed across the arena, almost becoming invisible because of his speed. _

"_Do you want any chips Dark Rockman?" Damien asked, preparing himself… to be honest, Dark Rockman wasn't much for liking chips, he saw them as a cheat._

"_No… Damien-kun, I'll be fine… it wont take me long to defeat this guy" He grinned harshly._

_And that was when Rockman became worried… he hated it when his brother spoke like these battles were life or death when it wasn't… his brother was facing a few problems… when they had battled other navi's before, Dark Rockman had changed quite drastically… becoming almost a different navi… an evil charm to him had appeared and he became ruthless, doing whatever it took to get the battle over with and retain his pride._

_Dark Rockman was a stray program, but strangely had traits… but they weren't good ones, they were traits such as loneliness, anger, hostility, vengefulness… when the program merged with Rockman's, there were too many bad traits to balance out with good, so only a low percentage of goodness was added to him, unlike Rockman's which was evenly balanced out… his good side was more overpowering of the dark side, so it rarely ever showed, even in battles._

_So whenever Dark Rockman became so heated in battles, deciding on critical ways to attack his opponents… anything that could rupture good… his bad traits would show and only Rockman would take it seriously… others would only think he was messing with his words._

_Damien watched as Dark Rockman opened up a sword and slashed the back of Gutsman… and so easily too, he'd vanished for a mere moment to appear behind him and go in for the unmistakable kill… but he wanted more thrills… more action. _

_He changed his sword to a buster firing it up as he swooped over the navi who almost stumbled to the floor, but wasn't showing any remorse as he shouted "Gut's punch!" He flung multiple punches at the other navi, the force was like a shockwave that would shatter the opponent making them weak so he could strike again, but Dark Rockman had dodged and with his buster being fired up enough, he took aim and fired…_

_It was over, the shot tore through the navi's chest in a few seconds and everyone stared on in shock… "W-what?!" Damien said quietly as he watched Dark Rockman snicker._

"_Told you id defeat you on my own" He said just in time for Gutsman to hear before his fragment's we're deleted into nothing, the navi barley had time to blink._

_Dekao cried pitifully placing his hands on the dome that surrounded the arena in the real world, Damien wasn't sure who to look at… his friend who just had his navi deleted… or his navi who laughed at the pain he had caused._

"_How dare you delete my navi!" Dekao said pointing at Dark Rockman, not Damien… he didn't blame the human… he wasn't controlling it so it was his fault according to Dekao. _

"_Dark Rockman! Why on earth did you do that? What were you thinking?!" His brother shouted at him from a distance._

"_I just wanted some fun, everyone is too weak for me… everyone here wouldn't stand a chance against me" He said looking over at the other navi's in the corner of the arena, he grinned once more… the evil grin he had got before he deleted Gutsman._

"_I'll delete them all!" He opened up a sword and ran up to the navi's who were cowering in fear and horror… _

"_Dark Rockman… no please, don't do it! Listen to me!" Damien cried… he wasn't sure what to do now, he couldn't stop him… he couldn't order Rockman in to stop him… Dark Rockman was out of control and he couldn't stop him… he was almost scared for his own life now._

"_Heh… pitiful" Dark Rockman snickered again as he ploughed the sword through Roll's chest, earning a deafening scream as she defragmented and was deleted. "That's the last of them…"_

_Damien looked over at his friends… his fist's were clenched in anger for his friends… this was all his fault and as much as his friends would tell him otherwise… he knew it was his fault for him not controlling Dark Rockman._

"_How could you!" He screamed, making the two navi's in the arena face him, Rockman's face was in worry… his body was in shock… his mind was shattered "I remembered when I trusted you with my life… but I can't anymore when you've just deleted you're closest friends, you're just monsters!" He was literally in tears by that moment, his friends couldn't comfort him… they could only stare at the bravery, the courage he mustered up to tell his navi's off. _

"_You ought to delete yourselves! You shouldn't even be called navis!" He paused for a moment to gain a little breath "I can see… that Rockman was the better one… but I know that you won't return to me, never again… and I don't want you too, for all I care, id rather not have a navi anymore after what i've seen today" He paused again, snivelling in pain._

_Rockman stared up at his operator… it was true, he'd stay with his brother over Damien, but if it wasn't such a difficult option, he'd want to stay with his human… the words tore his brain to pieces… how harsh and punishing they were…_

"_I hate you both! And I never want to see you or speak to you or even hear about you ever again!" At that he smashed his pet against the dome causing it to shatter… before it completely disappeared and they were both deleted, Rockman took one last look at the brown eye's he had come to admire…_

_He logged out along with his brother as the arena became unstable and deleted itself… the two navi's were safe in net city… for the time being, they blended in with the crowds of navis._

"_We can't stay here, after what you…" he stopped "We just did so we need to hide, their bound to call the net police and get us tracked and locked away, or we'll be deleted for this" _

_Dark Rockman nodded, the bad trait had resided a little more and he'd returned back to normal… but his bad side still showed itself often… or more than it should after that. "We must never trust humans ever again" the dark navi added as he walked off down the long street of net city._

_Rockman took a glance around, unfortunately and against his will… agreeing with him._

____________________

_Present moment._

And that was the nightmare that plagued him, humans were almost a disease that spread around the world now and there was no escaping them… that day over a year ago, when he had seen Damien before he logged out of the arena, his eye's were full of sadness, just as the human he had seen around the net.

His eyes slowly opened up as he stared into darkness that surrounded him… he didn't want it to be like this, he'd stick by his brother for all means… but he couldn't live the rest of his life knowing his brother had done wrong and he had no part in it…

But he couldn't leave him, not now and he couldn't go back to the humans, pleading to become a navi once more… he couldn't come forward either and tell the net police it had been his brother who had committed the crime of murdering navis.

One way or the other… at this rate he was doomed only to loneliness with his brother.

He decided to let it rest and sleep a little more, Dark Rockman was still fast asleep as it was still very early in the morning, sleep was a good option.

* * *

I had one hell of a headache while writing this, so lemme know if nothing make's sense. x)


	3. Netto

_- Netto -_

_

* * *

_

Dark Rockman was the first to awake in the morning, as he sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he looked over at his brother who was facing away from him, he could see the puddles of sweat around his body again… automatically he knew what he had been dreaming about.

He rolled his eyes _"Humans…"_ he annoyingly thought to himself "Rockman…?" he steadily stood to his feet, stretching his arms and back from sleeping on the solid flooring.

"Hay, sleepy head… wake up!" He shouted which in return did startle him awake, but not sitting up awake...

"Alright… I can hear you…" Rockman moaned.

"It's about time too, you might wanna clean yourself up as well, you look like you've been for a wash and not dried yourself" He joked.

Rockman sat up looking down upon himself, he could see the bundles of sweat on the floor around him, his hair was soggy and cold… his suit was damp from where his eyes had watered... or cried in othe words.

Dark Rockman walked over to his brother "Why do you keep doing this to yourself… you do realise we'll never have human partners ever again right?"

_"I don't want to believe that…"_ Rockman thought "There's always a chance…"

Dark Rockman's eyes widened, he instantly wanted to hurt his brother for making that choice… but he resisted "No… you're wrong, no one will ever want us now, no one…"

Rockman rose to his feet taking a steady breath "It doesn't matter… we have forever to find someone, I don't want to give up on the humans just yet… even if they have treated us like crap, it doesn't matter, someone will want us"

He couldn't hold it in anymore, from fierce rage he punched his brother right on the cheek which when he pulled back was red and puffy…

Dark Rockman had realised what he had done and pulled back his fist immediately, Rockman looked at him sternly "Listen to me, sooner or later we'll both grow weaker and without the attention of human's we'll become mental and we'll end up deleting each other… we can't keep living in the future, in a world where navi's are better than humans because it'll never exsist"

Dark Rockman sighed heavily "I need some time alone… Rockman"

Seeing that his speech hadn't interested his brother in anyway he opened a link and went into net city… he was mentally a wreck, he couldn't think and as much as Dark Rockman wanted time to himself, Rockman wanted his own time which is why left instead.

He came out in the middle of the city, the crowds of navi's were roaring at this time in the morning, he took a few looks round before walking off meaninglessly… his eyes flickered from one navi to another who were talking to their net ops… he could see the screens of boys and girls each different from the last talking and laughing away with their navi's.

He sighed heavily as he wasn't in the mood to walk anymore; he went to a distant, remote part of the net, sliding down against a wall as he cuddled up to himself, pulling his knees to his chin and wrapping his arms around them. _My life sucks_… he thought to himself as his eyes slowly closed, he hadn't slept much during his sleep time at night, so he decided to waste the time now and happily fall asleep peacefully.

________________

A few hours on… Rockman had been woken up… he was being poked in his arm and rather slowly as well, as if they were checking to see if he was still alive.

He slowly raised his head and to his surprise found huge big brown eyes right up in his face, it was the boy he had seen so many times before… the boy who always seemed sad and depressed, who walked around net city on his own.

Rockman stared into the boy's face… the eyes were amazingly sparkling… something he hadn't seen in human eyes before, the boy's lips grew into a smile and his eyes closed in harmony at the navi, he pulled back a little to let Rockman stand to his feet recognising that he was taller… which meant he was more intimidating if he wasn't careful...

"W-who are you?" Rockman asked, a little unsure if he should speak to him.

"Im Netto, what's your name?" His smile was even brighter than before; his large brown eyes glistened in happiness and he leaned in to hear what the navi was named.

"Im Rockman, how is it that you're in the cyber world?"

Netto shrugged his shoulders and started to play around, running and jumping… while Rockman stared at the boy's hyperactivity…

"Do you not know then?" Rockman asked again

"Nope…!"

"Then… why are you so happy?" the boy was very interesting to him… even though he'd never met him, or spoke to him or anything, only caught glimpses of him and had the hypnotic brown eye's stare at him.

"Because I made a friend!" he said cheerfully running over to the navi, stopping just a few centimetres in front of him and looking into his emerald eyes.

"Wha-what, do you not know who I am?" He probably shouldn't have mentioned that, with Dark Rockman thinking they'd never have human contact again, this happening was all so sudden and he was finding hard to keep up, especially with this boy, Dark Rockman had literally shattered his trust in any human, but for some reason… he could trust this one.

"Course I do, you're Rockman!" His smile didn't dim for a second, he was incredibly happy to see the navi or at least speak to him that was for sure.

"How old are you?" Rockman wanted to know more about the boy indeed…

"Im nine, how old are you?"

"Uh… I don't really have an age… but in human year's id say im about eleven or so"

"Sweet…!"

Rockman was happily smiling at the boy until his ears were alerted by the sound of the net police and they were closing in.

"Listen, I gotta go… you better get somewhere safe… go back into the real world" Rockman warned as he prepared a link back to his hideout.

"But... but…" the boy's smile faded quickly and Rockman didn't like the look of it "I don't know how to get back to the real world, im stuck here… I have no where else to go and im all alone" he looked like he was about to cry as his lowered his head.

Rockman's eyes looked back and forth between the boy and the link… the siren's were loud and clear by now, his eyes glanced down at the boy... still calculating if it was a good idea or not because of his brother.

_"This is my one chance to have a human partner and im denying it?!"_ He out-ragingly thought to himself… offering out a hand for the boy to take hold and follow him.

"Hay, look there's the navi who's related to that murderer, Dark Rockman… and he has kidnapped a human too, get him!"

Rockman saw the net police charging at him and in an instance picked Netto up and took him through the link and closed it just in time before he was deleted by the net police and Netto taken away.

"That was close…" Rockman sighed in relief… the link reopened on the other side to the hideout that was at the moment dark and silent. "Dark Rockman…?"

"Do you have another friend?" Netto whispered softly.

"Well… sort of, he's my brother" he replied "Dark Rockman…?" He shouted making Netto clamp his hands to his ears because the yell was so deafening and loud "He must have gone somewhere, I hope he's okay" he said a little quieter.

Rockman walked over to the centre of the hideout placing the boy back on his feet, who instantly wanted to play and mess around.

"Don't wonder off too far, we might be the only one's here but it gets pretty scary…" he teased… he couldn't believe it… he felt fine around the human now, he'd slightly adjusted to the boy's kind, soft humour and look on things.

Netto nodded happily "But im so happy, I can't help but run!"

Rockman's smile widened "You didn't seem happy all those times I saw you, why have you suddenly changed your demeanour?"

"Because… you reminded me of my net navi, when he was alive… and it made me sad because I didn't think you wanted anything to do with a human like me"

"That's crazy! Id never turn a human away… especially not you… ive not had human contact in so long id almost forgotten how to have a conversation with one until I spoke to you today" Rockman protested "Precedes, who was you're old net navi anyway?"

"He was called Tomahawkman…"

_

* * *

_

_Okay, if you have a problem with Netto's deceased navi being 'Tomahawkman' I don't really care, I didn't want to make one up and it was a perfect fit since Dingo won't be appearing in this story._


	4. Tomahawkman & Elecman

_- Tomahawkman & Elecman -

* * *

_

"_Here Netto-kun, we got you this for you're birthday" A taller old man spoke to the younger boy who was sat on the couch early in the morning on his fifth birthday watching cartoons. _

_The boy's smile grew cheerfully as he looked at a square box, quite think in height and not very long in length, brightly coloured in wrapping paper and topped off with a red bow "Ooooh, what is it?" He said taking the present delicately and eying every part of it. _

"_I promised id get you one when you turned five and I picked the best one for you too and it was expensive so take care of him" the man smiled taking a seat next to him._

_Netto put the present aside to hug his father smugly and soon after letting go to look at the present again "Can I open it?" He asked._

"_Of course, it's you're birthday and im sure he's getting bored too" _

'_He...? What exactly is my present? I must have asked for it a long time ago and forgotten…' Netto thought._

_Yuiichiro decided to leave his son alone in peace while he opened up the present "You've got a lot of other presents too off your relatives and friends, I'll go get them for you, but you should save some for later on in case you get bored… but I highly doubt you will" He said walking off into the kitchen leaving Netto to ponder over his new present._

_He read over the tag, it didn't really say much… just that the present was from his parents, that they loved him and to be careful…_

_He slowly tore open the present from the corner… seeing a dash of blue from under the wrapper, he couldn't wait any longer, he tore off the wrapping paper in a frenzy, revealing one of the snazzy new pet's, that was what he'd been asking for. _

_(a/n: using first pet's)_

_The pet all over was blue, around the edges was orange and yellow triangles… it must have been designed along side the navi, so they were equal and the same._

_He found the on switch and thought about it for a moment… but then decided he had wasted enough time and switched it on… and there it was... a navi, not the first one he'd seen but certainly the coolest._

"_Hello, Netto-kun… im Tomahawkman… nice to meet you" He smiled _

"_Wow…" was all he could utter as he stared in ore at the tallish, native American navi. "Pu-please to meet you" he finally lowered his wide mouth to a smile._

"_So what do you want to do Netto?" He asked, almost sounding as if he was willing to do anything, which he was. _

"_Umm… well what would you like to do?" _

_Immediately so, Tomahawkman knew that Netto was no like other boy… he was kind and gentle, and certainly fun as their friendship grew over the years…_

___________________

"Tomahawkman…?" Rockman asked as Netto sat down beside him on the cold, solid floor.

"Yeah, we became fast friends and we were basically inseparable but it was really hard to move on when he got deleted"

"That sounds like me and Damien… my old net op… but he didn't exactly get deleted or died, he just declared that he hated us and didn't want to see us ever again" Remembering that, Rockman lowered his head in shame again… something he couldn't help.

Netto placed a hand on the navi's back and begun to rub back and forth to comfort him "It's okay, im sure he didn't mean to say he hated you… im sure he misses you a lot, you we're his first navi right?"

Rockman nodded "And im pretty sure he still hates us, he even destroyed the pet to stop me and my brother from ever returning to it"

Netto pulled back his hand for a moment before continuing "That's really harsh… he shouldn't have done that to a navi like you… you don't deserve it"

"Well… I might not deserve it, but my brother did" He spoke a little quieter in case his brother was close "So, what happened to Tomahawkman?"

"He actually deleted himself to save me…"

___________________

_Two years on from when Netto received his pet, he was sat in front of his computer, Tomahawkman was in his pet helping the boy out with his homework, even though he had protested millions of times against it, Tomahawkman promised that he would let the boy stay up a little later and play video games, something Netto couldn't disagree with._

_So with Tomahawkman helping him, it didn't take him as long and he had fully completed all the homework for that week in one Friday night "Can I please play some games now?!" He asked _

_Tomahawkman chuckled to himself "Fine, were you thinking of playing online games? Cause then I can join in" _

"_Sounds fun, but wouldn't you rather have a net battle?" Netto grinned evilly as he pulled out several chips from his draw._

_Tomahawkman smiled and logged out from the pet into Netto's computer and then linked into net city, even though it was so late at night, it was still pretty busy. _

"_Better get over to the stadium to check out the competition Tomahawkman" Netto said, appearing on a screen behind him, Tomahawkman nodded at him and the screen disappeared as he began walking straight ahead._

_Both were unaware that Tomahawkman was being followed by a navi; nobody else knew … he didn't show himself among the crowds, he ducked into alleys or anywhere that was a shadow._

_When Tomahawkman reached the stadium he took a seat beside a few other navis and watched a battle that had already started. _

_A few battles onwards, he decided to take part in the next battle against an irregular navi that he had never seen before, or even heard of. _

"_And next we have Tomahawkman and his net op Netto Hikari and against them will be Elecman and Count Elec" Said an overly excited woman through the speakers. _

_Tomahawkman took his position on the field, a few metres away from him was Elecman, behind each of them was the screen that displayed their net ops, Tomahawkman took his stance and so did Elecman, but a wicked grin appeared on his face and it was one that worried Tomahawkman to death, something was going to happen._

"_We'll make this a real battle, elec style" Count Elec spoke quite cheerfully as if he had already won…_

_Tomahawkman wasn't really sure what was going to happen, but by the sound of it… it wasn't good._

_The battle progressed, almost crossing the line of a near death match but Tomahawkman wasn't showing signs of defeat or tiredness, in fact he was winning and he wasn't getting cocky either, Elecman was panting for breath every now and then, demanding breaks and calling out to the native navi that he wasn't ready, but he clearly knew he was loosing. _

_Elecman rose up straight, glaring Tomahawkman in the eye "Time for the real battle" he masked under his breath, Count Elec had heard him and grinned pleasingly that the navi was finally doing what he had planned to do…_

_Slyly, Count Elec slotted in an area steal making the navi vanish and while doing so he materialized his arm into an elec sword appearing behind Tomahawkman and quickly enough he slashed and zapped the navi with a low charged electricity, just to let him know what was to come, he jumped over appearing a few feet out in front._

_A few moments on Netto dropped the pet grasping his hands and hissing in pain, Tomahawkman heard him and worriedly turned to look "Netto-kun, what's wrong!" He shouted_

"_I-I don't know, I got a really bad shock in my hands and they're turning red!" he cried as he held his hands up to the pet screen… Tomahawkman was speechless but he knew what the game was now, he just hoped he didn't have to explain it to Netto later._

"_And that's only the beginning" Count Elec added, laughing evilly "Elecman, delete him and kill the boy along with him, a higher charge of electricity should do perfectly this time, the boy will be burnt to a crisp!" He laughed even heavier, the crowd could do nothing but watch, nobody was allowed to stop the battle or intervene, the just had to wait it out and hope for the best._

_Tomahawkman gritted his teeth looking over at the over at Elecman and his crazy operator in front of him… he couldn't forfeit and go home a looser, Netto would probably hate him for it, but then again… he couldn't continue and risk his net ops life. _

_It didn't take him long to decide… he knew he had to continue; he just needed to be careful in every way._

_Elecman seeing the navi's confidence rise in his body stance, he grinned evilly and almost successfully "Pathetic" He uttered out, focusing his glance on the native navi. _

_Elecman charged at him and at the same time Tomahawkman charged at him, both mindlessly shaking their blades at each other and growling in annoyance. _

_Each of their net ops received multiple shocks of electricity from their navi's injuries but tried to keep focused, even though Netto was finding this a lot harder than Count Elec who had been through much worse._

"_Come on Netto, don't give in on me now buddy" Tomahawkman comforted him._

"_I need more power…" Elecman asked his operator who happily complied and gave him what he needed, a large electricity boost… making the navi open up a second sword on his other hand, Tomahawkman stepped back as the navi performed the program advance and he made it look so easy._

_Lastly he grinned at the native navi, knowing these were his final moments, the amount of energy and electricity in that long sword he wielded above him, he knew neither he or Netto wouldn't survive that, especially if Netto kept hold of the pet, which is how he got the shocks in the first place, since Tomahawkman's programming was linked to the pet, when he got the shock, everything else would too... including Netto. _

_He was so confident too that he could do this, but clearly he was defeated, he was tired and the battle had been going on for more than an hour, he just felt like crashing down on the floor, he could even log out if he wanted… but what would that do? Running away from a battle… they'd only just keep coming after him for whatever purpose they had. _

_He'd created something a few months ago, he was saving it as a present for Netto but he saw now as the time, it would certainly save the boy, even though his parents wouldn't agree to the idea or would probably hate the navi for doing it, at the moment he had no choice and it was the best option. _

"_Program advance!" Elecman screamed as he smashed the sword into ground which sent waves of electricity towards the navi._

"_Tomahawkman!" Netto screamed, not for a second letting go of the pet… he didn't want his navi to be deleted, not now or ever. This is what Tomahawkman had been waiting for... he could sense the tight grip on the pet that Netto held, if his plan was to work... he needed Netto to be strong at that moment so his plan would work successfully 'Netto has always told me he's wanted to see the net... and now he will... who knows, he may even find another net navi to claim' he thought happily. _

_Just before the electricity hit, he touched his crest and a bright light in an orb surrounded Netto and at the same time, Tomahawkman was deleted into millions of pixels... then nothing._

"_World three succeeds!" Count Elec cheered leaving Elecman to snicker before logging out leaving the battle ground a mess with sparks of electricity flowing randomly through the cybernetic air._

_A few moments on… Netto was floating in a weird orb, he wasn't sure where he was but everything felt... okay, until the orb disappeared and he fell from the sky crashing into a cyber water fountain, wetting all of his clothes… _

_He hadn't fully realised where he was, until he saw the millions of navis staring at him, he jumped out of the fountain and ran off to hide from everyone, he was definitely scared and worried, what had happened to him?_

___________________

"And that's it basically, I don't know how I got to this world and all I know is that Tomahawkman was deleted by a world three net navi, whoever they are…" Netto said sobbingly.

"What about you're parents? Do they still not know where you are?"

"Im sure their worried about me deeply, I haven't even seen them in two or more years… but I don't want to see them now when im in this world, I want to be back in my own world…" Netto's eyes began to well up in tears.

Rockman sighed… pulling the younger boy into a hug that brought the boys head to his chest "Im sure they won't mind and I bet its what Tomahawkman would want, by the sound of what you told me… it seems as though he was the one that brought you to this world"

Netto nodded "Ive been thinking that too… but there's no way he could have achieved something like that on his own…"

_

* * *

_

Don't like Tomahawkman being defeated by Elecman? MY STORY!! Oh and another thing.. ive read of this like a million times, so im sure there are NO mistakes and everything makes sense.. if you still think it doesnt make sense then read a dictionary.


	5. A Hologram?

_- A hologram? -_

* * *

"I guess we should get some rest, we'll figure something out later" Rockman said to the younger boy who nodded in agreement.

"Okay, goodnight Rockman" the boy said as he lay down on the floor, putting his hands together to make a pillow.

Rockman smiled at him before he himself lay down too with his back facing Netto, he thought it was rude, but he didn't want to become too close to the boy, he barley knew him and he still had parents in the real world, it would be better if he could help him get back there.

___________

Dark Rockman was being chased by the net police again, this time he was heavily outnumbered, in crisis's like these, he could count on his loyal brother to help him out of a jam, but he couldn't link with his mind… he must have been sleeping, which made him even more angrier, he felt like destroying each and every one of the net police, but Rockman wouldn't agree to it and they were already in enough trouble as it is.

He bolted off down the streets, occasionally looking back at the net police that were swarming in the twenties or more.

He tried to run faster but there were just too many navis in his way and he couldn't shove or hurt any of them because of his brother… his kind hearted and loving brother.

He had to find a suitable place to open the link, he didn't want anyone to learn of it and where it leads to.

He was growing tired and he couldn't keep this pace up, he tried time and time again to contact his brother but he still received no reply "Damn you Rockman!" He muttered under his breath, he felt like screaming it out at that point.

He gained enough time to distract them, just by destroying a few objects along the way changed their intentions enough just so he could duck into an empty street and open the link back to the hideout.

When he arrived he was shocked and disgraced, Rockman was lying next to a human… _So he had seen a human… but I didn't think he'd actually be stupid enough to bring it back here! _He angrily thought to himself.

He walked over to the sleeping bodies that were a while ago a small distance apart from each other, over the half an hour they had somehow moved closer to each other and were almost nose to nose apart.

Dark Rockman would have spit in disgust at the two, if he even could… He kicked the boot of Rockman which stirred him awake and caused him to sit up, rubbing his eyes, but the human did not budge one bit… he slept happily accepting the releasing warmth from the other body.

"What do you think you're doing Rockman?!" He shouted in a hushed tone, but he actually didn't care if he woke up the human.

"Sleeping…" he gruntingly replied

"Don't get funny with me! I mean why the hell have you brought _that_ back here!" Referring to the human as he pointed at him while Rockman stood up.

"I had no choice! We were being chased and if I had left the boy alone then he would have been captured by the net police!" Rockman protested in his quietest manner

"I was being chased by them too! A few minutes ago actually and you didn't come to help me, even though I tried to contact you loads… but I stuck it out by myself, not hurting any one else as you wouldn't" He walked off, almost sounding as if he was about to cry.

"I didn't know, I was sleeping… sorry" a silence filled the air and not once did the young human stir.

"It doesn't matter now, what's done is done, just get rid of the human and we'll get on with our lives"

Rockman gasped at his angry manner, turning to face the sweet boy lay on the floor then turning back, standing his ground "No! I will not get rid of him; he needs us and our help, why can't you just accept him!"

Dark Rockman turned and walked towards him "Because after everything humans have done to us, what is there to accept anymore?! Why can't you just go on living without them? We don't need them"

"We do need them, more than anything… without them we're not even called navi's anymore, that's what Damien was trying to tell us! We didn't deserve to be called navis because we didn't listen to the humans, we didn't abide by what they wanted"

"I told you… never to mention that boys name again!" He replied harshly towards his brother, lowering his eyes which in return did make Rockman step back.

"I don't care, it had to be said and im not getting rid of him… he's staying with me until I can get him back in the real world"

"So you can run off and become his net navi and leave me to be deleted?"

Rockman breathed a heavy sigh, but was startled when Netto sat up yawning "Pu-please don't fight" he spoke softly and child like.

Dark Rockman turned and began walking as far away as possible; Rockman looked back at Netto "Sorry if we woke you, it's just that… he's not very friendly around others"

Netto giggled slightly "Its okay, I know brothers what brothers are like…"

"Do you have a brother?"

"No… but it would be nice to have one"

Rockman smiled at him "It does get pretty annoying from time to time though" He said as he sat back down in the same place he had fallen asleep, all the warmth he had collected had turned to coldness.

"I guess so… but why does your brother hate humans so much?"

"It's just because of our old net op Damien, he did feel something special for him… something navis shouldn't for humans and obviously being told to delete himself by his own net op was a little… difficult for him to take in"

"Hmm… poor Dark Rockman, he must secretly crave human attention but he doesn't want to give into them emotions because he doesn't want to be put down by them ever again…"

Rockman turned to face him, even he hadn't thought of that before "Maybe you're right…" he sighed "We should get some sleep again and just to be on the safe side, you better sleep closer in case he comes back and tries to kill you or something"

Netto nodded, his face was plastered in worry and shock as the navi laughed a little "Don't worry I'll protect you, he won't do anything if you're next to me"

So then Netto lay down close to Rockman, his back was facing the navi as this way felt safer, he could see in front of him. He placed one hand over the boy's body and cuffed it almost; he brought Netto's body close to himself and kept him in that position.

Heat built and for the first time in ages, they both felt comfortable sleeping.

_______________________

The next morning was probably just as bad as last night; Netto and Rockman were stood facing each other with a slight problem.

"What's happening to me?!" Netto cried, his body looked almost holographic and nobody was sure why "I can hear voices in my head, Rockman help me!"

"There's nothing I can do… I don't know what's wrong!"

Netto watched as half of his body disappeared then re-appeared, it was frightening and weird at the same time… he had no control of it and he didn't realise it was happening to him until Rockman had pointed it out.

"What should I do?" He was panicking a lot more, the voices in his head were calling to him… even so they felt familiar.

"Focus more on being here, it looks like you're trying to warp somewhere else, try concentrate all your mind and energy on the ground and that should help" Rockman wasn't even sure what he was saying, but it could help.

So that's what Netto tried to do, he closed his eyes and just concentrated all of his energy on that spot he was stood in and Rockman watched from the sidelines.

"It's not going to work you know…" Another voice added as it walked over to them.

"Dark Rockman..." Rockman bluntly replied "What do you mean it won't work, it might do"

"Well… It won't because ~" He was cut off with an excited Netto dancing around shouting "It worked, it worked!" with Rockman shooting his brother an 'I told you so…' look.

"Still, you don't know why that happened did you?"

Both Netto and Rockman exchanged glances and shrugged their shoulders, whatever it was had passed over, with Dark Rockman rolling his eyes "Well, I know… and it looks like neither of you have guessed, pathetic… human's are a waste of space" He turned and opened a link "Don't have too much fun with you're new human boyfriend Rockman" His brother teasingly but over seriously replied.

Rockman blushed but luckily his brother or Netto didn't see it, but Netto did ask "What does he mean by that Rockman?" Who then looked over at Netto and tried not to change colour…

"Nothing, he's just being daft…" Still he couldn't help but wonder why he had said such a thing and it was a little harsh that he had said humans were a waste of space… if it weren't for humans navis wouldn't exist "What would you like to do today?" He asked, trying to break the uneasy conversation that was going between them.

"Hmmmm" Netto pondered to himself "Let's go to net city!" He excitedly added.

Rockman smiled at him "Sure, but we can't stay long because the net police are after me and if they catch me you'll be on your own"

Netto nodded, he didn't mind that Rockman was a fugitive… he actually thought his net op was a fool for telling such a noble navi to delete itself and make itself solo, precedes it wasn't even his fault, it was his brothers "That's okay, im sure it'll be a nice day as long as your there next to me" he smiled.

Rockman remembered "By the way… if I do get caught, please just run and don't stop because if you get caught I won't be able to help you and who knows what will happen…"

"But… but I wouldn't want to leave you behind" Netto said pleadingly.

"No… no you have to because if you stay and try and help me out then you'll get caught" Rockman persisted on; finally Netto hesitantly nodded and followed Rockman through a link into net city.

* * *

_  
Uhum. A little cut off, so I'm sorry about that people. :)_


	6. A Day In The City

_- A Day In The City -  


* * *

_  
"So, does Dark Rockman hate me?" Netto asked breaking the silence as they slyly shifted through net city.

Rockman looked down at the boy who gripped his hand with both of his "Well…" _Should I lie? _"Well… he just needs to get to know you, it's just first impressions and the whole 'hating humans' phase he's going through" he paused "pretty strongly as well…"

Netto nodded and inched closer to Rockman "Thank you"

Rockman smiled "For what? I just told you something any other person wouldn't have wanted to hear…"

Netto looked up and glanced at him softly expecting him to answer his own question.

"But… you're not like any other person are you?"

Netto shook his head and smiled cheekily "Hearing that makes me feel a lot better because now I know what I need to do to make Dark Rockman like me"

"Well, you can't force him to like you, he isn't like that… you just have to show him what kind of human you are and I'm sure in due time he'll come to like you"

Netto nodded and began looking round as Rockman led him further into the middle of net city, various navis stared at the two and if Dark Rock would have been there he would have flipped out at each and everyone of them.

"So, where would you like to go first?" Rockman asked.

"Well… how about the battle stadium?"

Rockman almost jumped out of his suit, thinking about the thousands of crowds and the security, it was a little too risky "Are you sure, I mean… it'll be crawling with security and navis and we might get caught"

"It doesn't matter, because you'll be able to get us out of that situation, you're Rockman, there isn't anything you can't do"

Rockman sighed, not wanting to upset him "Fine, c'mon lets go" He gently pulled the boy along side him towards the stadium "But we're not staying long, just a quick nosey and then were outta there"

Netto nodded and hurried to catch up to Rockman's speed and to stay by his side.

They entered the stadium with masses of crowds, blending in with them and secretly passing the security at the doors. Once inside, they could see that a battle was about to begin, so they hurriedly took their seats and watched the battle commence.

"And today we have a first time player, Ijuin Enzan and his net navi Blues"

Rockman and Netto looked over at the two, each looking at their own kind "The boy looks like a weirdo" Netto mocked looking at the weird white and black hair, the weird stare and strong looking face… a face that didn't like the look of his navi loosing. And Rockman couldn't help but stare at Blues, who also had his own weird traits "Long white hair… weirdly coloured… not a regular navi"

"And his competition today is… Elecman and Count Elec!"

"What?" Netto stood to his feet to gaze at the other navi appearing in the ring "It can't be…" He muttered under his breath.

"Netto, what is it? What's wrong?"

"That's Elecman and his operator, the ones who deleted Tomahawkman!"

"Really?" Rockman rose to his feet and glanced at the two on the field, Elecman definitely seemed like the navi to delete someone without hesitation and after what he did to Tomahawkman, there was a big chance he'd do the same thing to Enzan's navi, Blues. "Netto, sit down and let's just see how it goes, if anything does happen then we'll report it, okay?" Rockman said calmly sitting back down.

Netto nodded trying to control his anger "Okay…" he sighed sitting back down and watching as the battle commenced between the two.

Elecman was the first to start an attack on the other navi who seemed to just be standing still and watching as his opponent ran towards him with incredible speed, opening up an elec sword and holding it in the air with his battle cry at full volume, Blues turned away and just when everyone thought it was all over for him, he magically brought out a sword as the two smashed together with small sparks flying, everyone in the stadium hung onto their seats with suspense.

"That was incredible! Out of nowhere he was able to stop that sword with nothing but a flick of his own… amazing" The commentator added.

"That's just not possible… even Tomahawkman couldn't do that, he had a little difficulty but he's not even being moved by all the force Elecman is putting into his sword"

"Blues" His operator, Enzan called out through a screen "End it quickly; I have no time for playing online games"

"Of course Enzan-sama" He pulled his sword away, slipping past Elecman and appearing behind him swinging his own sword towards his back but luckily the darker navi turned and stopped the sword before it split him in two.

"You'll have to do better than that…" he mocked

"Don't annoy me pathetic navi, Enzan doesn't have time to be playing around with weaklings like you"

"In case you haven't noticed, he's not the one playing is he?"

Blues pulled back his sword and aimed to swing again but Elecman blocked him but he didn't realise Blues had brought out a second sword and stabbed him through the thigh and in return he squealed in pain and immediately he weakened and pulled back his sword as Blues forced his sword out of the navi's thigh.

"You… bastard" He stepped back a little to look at the two swords on the other navis hands, one full of blood the other clean "You'll definitely pay for that"

"Ive got nothing to give, this battle is over" He began walking off, but this was when another sneaky trick rose between the other two.

"Elecman, you know what to do" Count Elec whispered to him with a simple nod in return. Elecman quietly disappeared and reappeared slashing the back of Blues making him yelp in agony and shortly after he felt no communication between him and Enzan, all the lines had been severed and he could no longer make contact with Enzan.

The navi turned back to face Elecman, his face was full of anger "What did you do?"

"It's all part of World three's plans! To delete any navi and kill any operator who might be a threat to us, we've already taken care of several operators and navis and you're next on our list" He laughed.

"I knew it…" Netto added standing up again, not wanting to hold back any of his anger any more "Im not the only one who has had their navi forcefully taken away from them…" Netto ran up the stairs that lead to the field and quickly stepped down them, he wasn't sure what was going through his mind, but he didn't want anyone else to be hurt because he and his navi couldn't defeat the one's who want world destruction.

"Netto! Wait!" Rockman cried after him, following him radically down the steps to the field "You don't know what you're dealing with, stop!" He cried again, but the young boy ignored him and carried on running down the stairs.

The navis sat down along the aisle seats watched as the human ran in a strange panic towards the arena, no one understanding why.

"Elecman! Stop it now!" The boy screamed as he entered the arena with Rockman following behind.

Both Elecman and Blues looked over at the human, both unbelievably surprised at what they were seeing.

"A human?" Blues added after he finished gazing.

"You again… I thought I killed you years ago"

"What?" Blues turned to face Elecman "Killed?"

"Well, I certainly got rid of his navi, some how that brat must have survived… what a shame, I'll have to kill you now"

Netto backed away a little, not having the full amount of courage he had a few moments ago as a blade appeared in front of his face, Blues didn't want to interfere but he felt like he had to do something, but Rockman had already arrived on time, standing in front of Netto and acting as a guard.

"Don't you lay a finger on him…"

"Are you blind? This is a blade, not a finger… Navi's like you get dumber by the day"

Rockman clenched his fists "What did you say?" He snorted back at him, preparing his arm to turn into a buster.

"Looks like I'll need a little help in defeating you, what do you say… Count?" He called out to his operator who simply nodded and within seconds, two other navi's appeared by his side "Say hello to the other World Three followers, Heatman and Coleredman" (Wackoman/Circusman… whatever). Each stood either side of him, each portraying serious but extreme faces.

"Nice to meet you…" Heatman added sarcastically.

"Let's just skip the introductions and get to the deleting part" Coleredman interrupted.

"I knew coming here was a bad idea…" Rockman whispered to Netto behind his back,

"Sorry… It's all my fault, but I didn't want blues to be deleted, he's such a strong navi… and his operator seems like a nice person… if not a little weird in looks…" He replied softly making all of Rockman's anger disappear, he still shielded Netto but prepared for battle, something he hadn't done in a while and something he told himself he'd never do ever again.

"Got any ideas navi?" Blues added

"Um… Not at this moment in time…" Rockman replied as the three stepped back away from the other three, they could easily take on the three World Three navis but they didn't know what they were dealing with and it could go all wrong if they weren't careful.

"Come on then navi's, attack us, delete us…"

_It doesn't matter, because you'll be able to get us out of that situation, you're Rockman, there isn't anything you can't do._

* * *

I'm doing the next chapter as we speak! Uhum. Sorry, still hyped. Anyway. Really cheesy that wasn't it? =S. My bad.


	7. An Unexpected Hero

_- An Unexpected Hero -_

_Sorry I haven't updated in time, im sure you all still love me x)_

_

* * *

_"By the way… my name's Rockman… just thought you ought to know…" Not one of his best times to introduce himself, but if he and Blues were going to be battling together against World Three navis, it was best if they called each other by names, not by 'oi… navi'

"Great… im Blues, Id rather handle this myself but I guess I can do with some help…" he sourly admitted leaving Rockman a little hurt.

The two navi's looked at their competition, one high on electricity, another burning like a volcano and the last looking rather wacko.

"Well, are you just going to stand there like wasps in winter or are you actually going to delete us? Not that you can… I can see you both trembling in fear" Elecman started, now fully recovered from his injury before.

Blues growled and couldn't hold it in any longer as he raged against Elecman and attacked with all his force, catching the World Three navi off guard and sending him flying across the field.

Blues turned and began attacking the other two with a blade on each arm, he did his best at fighting them both while keeping track on Elecman too.

"Don't just stand there Rockman! Help me! You're needed now!" Blues called out as Elecman finally charged at him again attacking with an Elec sword, while Heatman attacked with a heat sword and Coleredman attacked with just a plain long sword.

Rockman was torn in two ways at that moment, he could leave and help a complete stranger in defeating World Three navis who are bent on helping their organisation gain complete and total destruction over the world or… he could keep Netto out of the fight at all costs and save him from being killed by Elecman who tried to kill him before… to any other navi it would have been an easy choice but to Rockman it was a disaster.

"What are you waiting for?!" Blues added as his swords clashed with the three, it was a good job he was experienced in fighting, he was gasping for breath in a few minutes as the three tired him out easily, doing whatever they could to weaken him and get to Rockman and the child.

"Rockman…" Netto said sweetly puling on Rockman's arm "You don't need to protect me, please help Blues, I'll be fine here"

"But… Netto" He replied "What if Elecman stops fighting us and goes after you, I won't be able to get to you in time, what if he takes you hostage and kidnaps you or something… the possibilities are endless"

Netto smiled "I know that won't happen cause… your're not like any other navi"

Rockman smiled in return "And you're not like any other human" Rockman gulped hard and ran into battle opening up a sword and immediately smashing blades with Heatman putting all his force into this battle to help Blues.

Netto stood from the sidelines watching over them hoping that they both stayed safe and hoping that he himself kept safe during the battle.

And as the battle progressed, things seemed to have been working out fine, Netto had been kept out of the battle so far and Rockman and Blues were working well together as a duo, something that could work out for future reference, although with Blues constantly telling Rockman he was weak and needed more practice in battle, he doubted Rockman would want to be seen dead after this was over.

Coleredman had been severely injured a few moments ago when Rockman had taken him by surprise while Blues had distracted him for a moment while Rockman charged his buster up to maximum.

"Were running out of options…" Heatman whispered to his other comrades as they jumped further away from their opponents, taking a break almost.

"Give it a few moments, ive got an idea" Elecman added deviously "Heatman, you know what im thinking?" He smiled.

"Oh yeah" he smartly replied "Id prefer to go solo on this, you two take care of them two"

The other three nodded at the idea and looked over at Rockman and Blues, dropping their guard, the perfect opportunity.

"Im fed up of this game" Heatman called out "Im out" That was the last Rockman and Blues saw of Heatman before he disappeared out of nowhere, the other three www net navis pretended to be surprised.

"Sorry Elecman, but im just running low on energy, im off, you can deal with your own problems"

"No... I'll join you" He pretended to cave in and followed after warping out with Coleredman. Rockman and Blues relaxed, thinking everything was over, but suddenly out of nowhere, Elecman and Coleredman reappeared moments later behind them holding their hands to their back and tying their hands together well.

"Rockman!" Netto cried out, running to his assistance but being stopped all the same by Heatman appearing a few moments after the other two and locking his hands behind his back and tying them good and tight.

"Bagged them all and so easily" Elecman sounded very pleased with himself more than the others.

"What should we do now?" Heatman added trying to stop Netto from struggling even more than he was.

"Well, for starters… kill the boy then we'll get rid of these nuisances" Elecman added becoming rougher on Rockman who he had hold of who after stating that Heatman should kill him became a lot more rowdy.

"No! No don't hurt him"; Rockman struggled trying to get at Netto

"Hay Heatman, Give Netto to me, I want to make sure the job is done properly this time, no mistakes or mishaps"

"No, stop it Elecman, leave him out of it" Rockman interrupted, Blues on the other hand stayed quiet but secretly tried to get in touch with his own net op.

"Heh, heh" Heatman added "He's all your's boss" Heatman walked towards Elecman with Netto being dragged by the back of his shirt along the floor, he felt so bad on the others for getting caught, he'd let Rockman down.

"It's okay Netto, we'll get out of this somehow" Rockman reassured him.

Netto nodded hoping that somehow Rockman would get out of capture, but it didn't seem likely. Elecman and Heatman made the swap, Elecman took Netto by the collar holding him in the air just by his shirt and Heatman grabbed hold of Rockman's elbow pulling him away from Netto and back next to Blues.

"This is going to be so much fun…" Elecman cheered opening up an Elec-sword and holding it to Netto's throat slightly imprinting the skin, the pain wasn't hard but it was there and Netto could feel it all to well.

"Please don't hurt him Elecman, why not just delete me instead!" _I shouldn't have left him, it's all my fault!_

"Because if I delete you then im just off-putting this boy's death even longer than last time, he was supposed to die at least two years ago, he needs to die now, he knows way too much for my liking"

_This is horrible_ Elecman pulled the blade right to the end, preparing to slit _Now I Know… How Tomahawkman felt that day, when he wanted to protect me… but he couldn't and that's how_ Elecman smirked knowing he was looking forward to this _Rockman must feel right now._

"Uagh…" Elecman's eyes were as wide as plates, Netto looked across as the blade weakened from his throat and the grip was loose, he could feel himself falling at any second and as he looked down he noticed two blades through Elecman's thighs.

"Elecman!" Heatman called over immediately after the stabbing noise rattled the arena.

"Del-ete the nav-i's… now!" Elecman cried out just seconds before he was forced to log out so he could save his hide.

Netto dropped to the floor and looking up; he saw who he didn't expect to see "Dark Rockman?" He softly spoke, gasping for breath.

The dark navi stared out the two www net navis who started charging towards him leaving the other two navis to stay trapped in the ropes.

Dark Rockman disappeared then reappeared just right in front of Heatman causing him to stop just dead in front of his face.

"That's impossible! Such great speed and agility!" Heatman cried from surprise.

"It's a shame you won't be round long enough to see what else I can do" He smirked back, unexpectedly drove the sword through his shoulder and kicking him in the stomach then drove the sword back out from his shoulder.

"I'll get you next time, whoever you are" Moments after Heatman was next to disappear, Dark Rockman looked over at Coleredman who was stood trembling in his own shadow.

"I guess you're next right?" Dark Rockman stared evilly at him; the navi was so scared that he logged out just for his own safety.

"Coward…" he muttered under his breath, he ran over to Rockman and Blues first, not attending to the human.

He slashed the ropes that tightly tied Rockman and Blues's hands together, Rockman immediately after didn't thank his brother but instead ran over to help Netto.

"Well thanks for the fun, catch yah later" Blues disappeared leaving no trace of where he was going.

"Netto-kun, are you alright?!" Rockman screamed helping him break free of the ropes and after so hugging him tightly.

"Come on were going" Dark Rockman grabbed Netto and Rockman and quickly dragged them through a portal he'd left open when arriving here before the net police caught up with them as he could hear the sirens closing in.

"Rockman, I need a word with you… privately" Dark Rockman asked. It had been a few hours after the fight in the city and Netto was worn out completely, he was already fast asleep.

"Sure" Rockman stood up from sitting beside Netto; gently he stroked the boy's arm in reassurance "I'll be back soon okay?" He whispered. Rockman followed Dark Rockman through an open link he'd set up a few moments ago. Seconds onwards they reappeared net miles away from Netto, still in the same desolate area, just further away. "You know, I don't see why we couldn't have just stayed in that area"

"If we did, then you wouldn't have been able to concentrate on what im about to tell you"

"What is it?" Rockman asked quickly, fed up with waiting, he was more concerned on getting back to Netto.

"You do realise, if you hadn't of had that human there today then there wouldn't have been any distractions, I mean come on… you being caught? That's so unlike you… and it's all because of that human, you were held back today"

"No… no that's not true, you know it's not… I mean… it's not all true"

"Rockman, if you want to keep him safe, for the rest of his life then please, just get rid of him, abandon him like a puppy at Christmas, we don't need him, and I know you don't need him if you're certainly tied to him like that"

"If it were any other human… then there might have been a chance… but my attachment to Netto is strong, I can't just give up and get rid of him now… I just… feel something about him, even today… that fight, I was practically sacrificing myself to let Netto live on"

"Then if you want him to, the only possible choice is clear isn't it?"

"No Dark Rockman, I want to return him to the real world where he belongs, I know he doesn't belong in this world, that's why if you just give me a chance to help him get back to where he belongs, then it'll be just me and you again"

"But what if you decide to be his new net navi, since his old one was deleted as I found out, you'll leave me, I know that human hates me just as much as I hate him"

"No I won't! You should trust and know me fully well that I wouldn't leave you"

"You haven't even thanked me after today, saving your skin again, and that human"

"He has a name, and…" he gulped, hard "thank you brother…"

"I just sure hope you know what your doing Rockman, because im not going to be looking after you forever, not while that human's taking up all of your time"

Rockman nodded following Dark Rockman back into the link.

_I just hope I can protect him long enough so he can see the real world again._

_

* * *

Ohmygod, I can't believe I didn't even need to write much, yet I put it off for so long! Im such an idiot! X)_


	8. Netto Sitting

_- Netto Sitting -_

* * *

The Next morning, Rockman was the first to awake, he hadn't slept very well all night, this being because he had multiple things on his mind and all of which he was worrying about. Mostly what Dark Rockman had said to him last night, the fact that he couldn't fight and protect Netto at the same time if Netto was in the area, as well as Dark Rockman thinking he was loosing his edge, becoming distracted because of Netto, or human as his brother would much rather call him.

He slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and looking over at his brother who was sound asleep a fair distance away from him, he looked back over his shoulder to see Netto asleep too, snuggled up close to where his body was lay.

He wanted to help Netto in every way possible, in any way… he didn't want him around the net any longer with all the dangers they constantly encountered and with himself and his brother being fugitives they were always having run ins with the law and they had no way of clearing themselves, not that they could now.

He started to wonder if the navi he helped yesterday could help him in return. He got up to his feet starting to see that this idea could work if he knew where to find him first.

He just had one little thing to take care of first. He went over to Dark Rockman's sleeping body, shaking his shoulder lightly and whispering his name softly.

"Dark Rockman, wake up will you… I need to ask you a favour" He whispered.

Dark Rockman took a deep breath and stood up to his feet and at the same time not taking his eyes of Rockman "What favour? If it's something to do with getting rid of that human in the horriblest fashion possible, count me in"

"No…" He paused "I actually need you to look after him for the day; ive found someone who maybe able to give us some answers as to why Netto is here and how we can get him back to the real world"

"Look after him for the day… are you joking?" He replied seriously.

"If I take him with me there could be a chance that we run into trouble and if we do then I may not be able to save him, just like last time… all im asking is that you look after him for a few hours or so, while I find Blues"

"You mean that navi from yesterday? Huh… I can find him with no trouble at all"

"You could, but you don't know what I want to ask and the answers im looking for, just please Dark Rockman"

"I don't want anything to do with that human and furthermore I don't want to babysit a baby"

"Well, don't call it babysitting, call it Netto-sitting and since Netto isn't a baby you shouldn't have anything to worry about, I mean come on… he's been on the net for nearly two years, imagine what he must have been doing for all that time on his own to protect himself and all you need to do is just a day's protection from the people and navis actually after us"

Dark Rockman rolled his eyes "If it makes us closer to getting rid of him then fine, I'll do my best"

"Thank you" Rockman smiled happily "I won't ask anything else to do with him to you from now on" Rockman quickly disappeared through a link leaving a troubled Dark Rockman wondering what to do now and since he was wide awake he had nothing else better to do but take a quick stroll around the hideout, explore areas yet to explore, Netto would be safe as long as he stayed in this part of the net.

_______________________

Rockman re-appeared somewhere outside scilabs, reckoning that it would be the best place to try first, but also the worst since the place would mostly likely be crawling with security navis.

But he took his chances and proceeded into the main computer of sci labs, quietly sneaking in to be unnoticed by other navis, it was a speciality of his to do such things unlike Dark Rockman who specialised in fighting and killing navis.

He noticed Blues next to a few monitors by himself; he seemed busy, but not too busy to keep him from Rockman's matter. He quietly sneaked up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.

When Blues turned around he was quite shocked and a little annoyed to see Rockman in front of him. "How did you get past the guards?"

"It's a personal trait of my own, something ive picked up from being a solo navi, anyway I have some queries I need to ask you, there important"

"What do you want Rockman?" Blues asked, putting aside his work and folding his arms to concentrate on what Rockman had to ask.

"Look, that boy I was with yesterday… Netto as he's called, he needs help, as you may have noticed he doesn't belong here and im worried that if he stays here any longer then he's going to end up getting killed"

"So what do you want me to do?"

"I need you to at least dig up some info on Netto's background, all I really know is that he used to have a navi named Tomahawkman who was killed by one of the world three net navis from yesterday… Elecman I think it was, and ive heard some stuff about his father but that's about it. He's been on the net for nearly two years and I don't know if he can last much longer, especially since a little incident he had the other day"

"Little incident?"

"Yeah…" He tried to fully remember what happened "Um… if I remember correctly, his body started to disappear then re-appear it was like he was a hologram or a projection but after so he was fine when he fully focused on where he wanted to be"

Blues nodded "It all seems too strange, I'll see what I can find… and not to seem imposing on your own privacy but I did some researching on you last night since that fight we got into made me question more about who you really are"

Rockman didn't exactly perk up but he started to get a little more concerned, incase Blues had uncovered something about his and his brothers past.

"That other navi from yesterday, the one who showed up just in time… and might I add was quite ruthless, he's your brother isn't he?"

"Yes he is, so what about him?"

"Well ive noticed that both you and him don't have net ops, yet your both in perfect condition to have one, why is that?"

"Let's just say were kind of lost, we did have an operator, named Damien but something happened, it's nothing I really like to talk about and Dark Rockman even hates thinking about it"

"I see, well that's fair enough if it's something you don't like discussing, there isn't much information about either of you both… apart from the fact you're both fugitives"

"What?" He asked surprisingly.

"You're wanted by the net police aren't you… unfortunately I can't dig up why but all I know is that you're both wanted for something big" Blues went very serious, deep in his mind he wanted to know what they were wanted for.

"Yes… you're right we are wanted but, it's not my fault, not entirely anyway, it was mostly my brother"

"So you're basically covering for him… you know if you say it's not you fault then what have you got to loose, we both saw how he acted yesterday towards those other navi's, even if they are from world three, that doesn't give him the right to heavily injury other navis, so why are you still covering for him if you know you didn't do anything wrong -"

Rockman interrupted "Because he's my brother and I can't just bail out on him now, I need him and as much as he might not realise he needs me, Netto needs the both of us and we can't become enemies now and not ever"

"Alright Rockman, I'll pretend that last part of the conversation didn't happen, in the mean time you best get back to Netto and your brother and I'll see what information I can find on your human friend"

"Thank you Blues, I'll be in touch"

"Would you like me to escort you out, that way you won't have to sneak"

"No it's okay" Rockman slightly thinking it was a trap decided against a host to lead him out "I prefer to sneak, it's more exciting" He smiled and instantly crept away from Blues's sight.

_______________________

Meanwhile, Netto had awoken back at the hideout and was sitting waiting around for both Rockman and Dark Rockman since neither had yet to return from their own business. He didn't know where either of them had gone or why but it was nice to have some independence again.

But even so, being left alone in a hideout that goes on for miles and miles can become a little frustrating and somewhat boring.

Before he completely fell asleep, he noticed a small harmless virus strolling a fair distance away, he started to smile like a child as if he had just seen something completely incredible that actually wasn't.

Deciding there was no harm in following it, he got up to his feet and started chasing after it, as if he was playing tag. The virus was a mettaur _(a/n: holy crud how do you spell mettaur…) _and it almost seemed like a baby one, with it being so small.

Netto continued to chase it, he didn't realise he was trekking further away from where he'd usually stay but this seemed like a better waste of his time while he waited for Rockman and Dark Rockman to return.

The Mettaur continued to run further away, saying the odd 'mettaur' every now and then and toppling over from side to side which entertained Netto even more.

_____________________________

Dark Rockman was the first back at the main part of the hideout, at first he thought he was dreaming but then he realised that this was serious and he didn't even know why. Netto wasn't anywhere in his sights and with him being human it wouldn't be easy to find him.

He didn't know whether to feel over the moon that the human had gone or whether to feel worried that when Rockman returns he would be in for it.

He quickly scanned around with his eyes making sure he hadn't missed any obvious clues but nothing, Netto had left no trace. He couldn't leave to find him either, if Rockman returned and both of them were missing he'd assume the worst.

He rubbed his temples thinking of what he could say to Rockman when he shows up. He could lie his way out of it, since he'd noticed a lot of mettaur activity around recently, he reckoned the boy might have become enchanted and followed one of them and thought it as a game to pass the time.

He decided on that and relaxed until Rockman returned about ten or fifteen minutes later.

Rockman at first wanted to talk to Dark Rockman anyway, but seeing that he himself couldn't see Netto with his very own eyes slightly worried him, even if Dark Rockman knew where the boy was.

"Dark Rockman?" Rockman asked "Where is Netto?" He didn't want to seem too alarmed incase nothing was genuinely wrong.

"Oh, that human… he's around somewhere, I think he went off playing with one of them stupid mettaur virus's, he'll be back shortly"

"Dark Rockman, he's only nine years old and barley knows this place like we do, what if he's lost?" Rockman asked, officially starting to get worried.

"Nah, he'll find his way back, presides how can he miss two navi's like us? Relax a little, give him room to grow" Rockman calmed down a little and took a seat next to his brother. "Anyway, did you find that navi… what's his name…" he paused to think "Blues?"

"Yeah, he was in sci labs as I thought he would be, unfortunately for us he's been doing some history digging on the both of us and knows we're fugitives but he doesn't know what for, also I think he may continue to find out why we don't have net ops, he may find out soon"

"Well, if he does become a nuisance I'll just simply delete him, problem solved"

"Dark Rockman!" He protested "You can't just state your going to kill him because he may find out things we don't want him to know, im sure I can handle this properly"

"Sure you can… just like your doing with that human now"

"I am, Blues is going to look into Netto's past and see what we can find on him and he may look for possibilities on getting him back to the real world"

"It's about time too, he better be telling the truth because if he isn't then he's got a lot of explaining to do, and so has that operator of his…"

"You know his operator?"

"Let's say I've done my own researching"

"Such as…?"

"That operator of his is Enzan Ijuin, he and his navi are part of the net police and work closely with sci labs, if were not careful they may dig up something deep about us, im sure they've recorded what we've done in the past, but so far all I know is that their new to the whole net police dealings, what we did pre-dates them so they wouldn't know anything of it unless they watched the news or something… so we've got nothing to worry about"

_What__** we've**__ done in the past? More like what __**you've**__ done in the past_ Rockman thought to himself "That is true, but if you say that there is records on us, maybe we better make sure they never find them" he paused to quickly change the subject "Where is Netto, you told me he'd be back now!"

"And I'll get rid of the records, they'll keep hunting us down but they won't have any information on us" he paused to alternate his subject "I didn't say he'd be back now… I said he'd be back soon"

"Well, im going to go look for him" Rockman stood to his feet, still looking down on his brother.

"There's no point, if you go looking for him you'll never find him, you can't track him can you?" Dark Rockman protested but Rockman refused to give up.

"I might not be able to track him, but if he's with a mettaur virus, im sure I can pinpoint all the locations of them and go to each and every one and that way im bound to find him"

"Well, im not helping, I just spent a while looking after him, you do it now" Dark Rockman remained in his position on the floor and watched as Rockman quickly pinpointed the locations of all the mettaur's on a see-through screen in the air.

"I'll be back in a bit" Rockman added as the first mettaur was considerably close by, so there was no need for using portals to get there.

Dark Rockman rolled his eyes and silently lay still, listening to the loud food steps made when Rockman ran.

_________________________

Netto was still chasing the mettaur around, almost in circles now, he wasn't sure why he was doing this, but it was fun no doubt about that.

So he smiled and continued running after it.

About a moment or so later, Netto didn't realise that the mettaur had become rather angry and didn't like the chase not one bit, at first he let it slide but now he wanted to get back at Netto for making him run so far away.

Netto did finally realise that he'd upset the mettaur and stopped further away from it. He wasn't sure whether to say sorry since he didn't know if virus's understood his language.

So as Netto was about to walk off his leg was caught when the mettaur threw his mattock _(that tool they like so much) _at Netto's leg and caused it to bleed and quite heavy. Netto fell to the floor in pain and the mettaur did nothing but waddle away and pretty fast in case any help came along and decided to destroy him for doing that.

Rockman was walking close to where Netto currently was, calling out his name worriedly and sharply as he was desperate to find him now. It was a while but sooner he caught sight of Netto's long cloak and the bright brown hair, he was over-joyed when he found the boy on the floor a fair distance from his own position.

He quickly ran over to the boy, at first he thought Netto was just resting but he sooner found out the horrid truth that was awaiting him.

"Netto-kun… are you oka-" He cut off his sentence looking at the large enough vertical cut down Netto's leg and he was immediate to react and help the boy out. At first he didn't realise, but when he looked Netto in the eyes he could see that they were stained red but he couldn't see the tears flow down his face "Netto, have you been crying?"

"A little…" he shyly said "I was just playing with a mettaur and it attacked me"

"Attacked you?" He looked back down at the leg "It looks like it too; I know mettaur's have tempers but ive never known them to attack anything bigger than themselves"

Netto remained quiet momentarily until Rockman moved his arms to cradle the boy next to his chest. "Rockman, what are you doing? Im sure I can walk"

"I know I know… but it's best we don't strain your leg and help it bleed further and this way we'll get back quicker" He protested and smiled at him.

"Okay…" He complied moments later.

______________

About five or ten minutes later Rockman was making slow progression in getting back to the centre of their hideout. The conversation had been lacking between them as neither had much to speak about.

Rockman on the other hand was worried, he wasn't too sure if he should tell Netto about going to see Blues or whether he should keep it secret.

"Rockman, are you okay?" Netto asked looking at Rockman's dull face "You don't look well"

"Don't worry Netto, Im fine… it's you im worried about"

"Me?" he paused becoming cheery "Im fine, my leg's a little soar though…"

The time soon passed between them and Rockman placed Netto down to the ground when he reaches the middle of their hideout. Dark Rockman was no where in sight so Rockman reckoned that he must have fled to avoid conflict.

He kneeled beside Netto looking over the wound again; it was still bleeding but not as much as before.

"At least we know your human…" Rockman mumbled.

"Huh?" Netto replied shortly after.

"Im just saying, at least we know your human from the blood, if it had been data I would have been even more worried"

"But shouldn't it be data anyway since im in the net?"

"For us navis yes, but for you humans no… I don't really know how to describe why it's the same, but even if I was in the human world I would bleed data, not blood because data is my origin, it's been part of me all my life just as blood has with you, it doesn't change no matter where you are"

Netto smiled and nodded understanding Rockman's point before looking back down to his leg "How are we going to clean it?"

"We? I'm going to clean it for you" He correct him.

"How? You don't have any of the supplies needed to clean a human wound on the net"

"No… but I do have a recovery chip, it may help or may not… but we'll never know unless we give it a try"

"But… but…" he started and then paused waiting to spit out the words "Im scared, im not a navi, what if it really hurts or even kills me"

"I doubt it would do that at all… presides it just a small recovery percentage, it shouldn't do any damage at all" He comforted him by holding his hand and preparing to form a recovery chip in the other, which didn't take very long for Rockman.

Rockman gently but firmly placed his hand on Netto's cut and began the process of healing the wound. At first it went smoothly and every now and again Rockman would look at Netto's face which the boy always turned straight acting as though he could handle the pain, he wasn't showing any signs of tears or sounds of hissing, but Rockman knew Netto was flinching and quite often too.

"Sorry it hurt's Netto… maybe im not doing it right…"

"No… It's just stinging slightly that's all" He immediately replied.

"It's almost finished now, I think it's worked"

Netto smiled and continued looking down at the cut that Rockman healed soon enough and pretty fast and too good quality, when he removed his hand the cut was barley noticeable, didn't leave so much as a trace, the blood that ran down his leg had been cleaned and the skin was soft and dry.

Netto happy that his leg was all better unconsciously leaned forward pecking Rockman on the cheek and lying all the way back onto the floor. Rockman blushed heavily and lightly ran his fingers over where Netto had laid a soft kiss, a little too stunned for his own liking but happy from the sudden affection.

Rockman properly sat on the floor beside him, letting go of Netto's hand and watching as the boy somehow nodded off even though the day was only half over.

_

* * *

_

The part where Rockman picks Netto up and carries him was part of a page that the doujin I based this off was on. I don't have the full doujin because I can't find it anywhere but the two pages a website previewed were good enough for me to make this story from :)


	9. Nightmares

- Nightmares -

* * *

An hour or so later, Rockman was pacing in his own trail of footsteps, waiting patiently for his brother to return from wherever he had taken of to.

Not much time had passed since Rockman had returned to find Netto missing, his brother telling him to relax about Netto going missing and him finding Netto injured miles away from where they usually stayed. He hoped that no more bad or unwanted news would fly his way, because at the moment he just couldn't deal with it.

He decided to let the worry slip a little as he sighed and stopped pacing. He turned to check on Netto who was snoring peacefully tucked up in his own brown cloak. Rockman couldn't help but think the boy was too cute for his own good, one day his cute looks would end his life, but Rockman wouldn't let that happen no matter what.

Since Netto had shown such great affection to him before, when the boy surprisingly kissed him on the cheek, the least Rockman could do now was definitely guarantee his safety and get him back in the real world where he belongs.

But while thinking he could do so, he wondered what would happen after… would he be forgotten? Would Netto want him to be his navi… and most importantly what about Dark Rockman, his only brother.

Rockman took Netto's sleeping hand softly, shivers tingled down his spine from the cold flesh and even though his hands weren't below freezing he decided just for his own peace of mind, he placed two fingers just below Netto's ear and checked his pulse and just like always it was beating softly.

Rockman smiled and tried to let go of all his current worries and just focus on the good things that are to come, what ever they were to be.

Rockman was startled out of his thoughts when he heard Dark Rockman step out of the link, stomping his feet as he walked towards Rockman and Netto.

Rockman was easily becoming annoyed and stood up and told him to 'shush' "You'll wake Netto you fool" He almost sounded like he was joking.

"Oh sorry…" he replied sarcastically and walked off in the opposite direction, continuing with the stomping of his own feet.

Rockman followed his brother, stopping by his side to query him on where he'd been. "So… where have you been Dark Rockman?"

"Oh you know… here and there"

"I want a specific answer"

His brother sighed "Damnit Rockman…" he muttered to himself "If you must know I went to find them cowardly world three navis"

"And?" He promoted him to continue.

"Nothing! I can't find them anywhere in net city, I even checked all the really run-down areas and still nothing… who ever they are they do a good job at making themselves seem non-existent, because I even asked a few people-" Rockman interrupted him.

"Wait…" he paused "You _talked _to people?" For Dark Rockman, talking meant fighting.

"Yes… talked to people… you know… conversations?" He sarcastically replied "Anyway, but it appears that no one has heard of them"

"Good job really, I don't think anybody would want to even become acquainted with the likes of them guys"

"Don't be such a wuss" he replied harshly "Me and you could easily defeat those guys in a matter of seconds and you know it" he paused but adding a few seconds later… "however" He directed his attention to Netto's silent body "That human is the only problem we have here"

Rockman turned to see what his brother was looking at but then immediately turned back shooting his answer "Forget it, im not giving up Netto just so we can get ourselves in bigger trouble than we can already handle"

Dark Rockman rolled his eyes "Suit yourself, spend the rest of your life a slave to that human" Dark Rockman disappeared again leaving Rockman a little speechless. _A slave?_ He thought. _It's true that navis were designed to aid humans and follow their orders, help with homework… keep them organised and all that… but ive never seen myself as a slave, not to Damien or Netto._

He stared at Netto for a few moments longer, watching while the boy stirred in his sleep slightly and soon after decided to sit by him again for his own company.

_I wonder if Netto does see me as a slave… that would surprise me because he's so gentle and nice, he doesn't seem like the type to make a navi his slave, he seems like the kind of boy that would see navi's as being alive or even better… being human._

Rockman snapped out of his thoughts when he felt Netto stirring next to him, as he did accidentally nock into Rockman's leg when he moved.

"Netto… are you okay?" He whispered.

Netto moaned slightly but did not open his eyes to Rockman's voice. _I'll give it a little while longer_. Rockman decided that when Netto would finally wake up, he'd ask him some of his thoughts.

But it was quite a wait… and one Rockman himself could not wait out… sleep became the better of him both mentally and physically and he collapsed to the floor next to Netto, quietly sleeping away.

* * *

They both spent the next couple of hours sleeping peacefully until Rockman's sleep was disturbed with loud screaming, un-natural and very high-pitched. Rockman knew that there was only himself and Netto in the hideout… so it had to have been Netto.

Rockman sat up as fast as he could be bothered too and saw Netto staring out into space, sweat dripped from his head and his body was trembling in some kind of fear.

"Netto-kun" Rockman added, pulling him closer "What's up? Are you okay?" He asked worriedly.

"I…I" He stopped, not wanting to continue.

"Come on" Rockman smiled warmly "You can tell me, im keeping you safe no matter what… so there's nothing to worry about"

Netto's shaky body cooled down slightly knowing that Rockman was right beside him, holding him close to his chest. "I had a nightmare"

Rockman wasn't the least bit surprised, knowing that nightmares were a natural occurrence in humans, but for navi's it was rare, although Rockman had had nightmares many times before, it being in humans was different.

"A nightmare?" He paused "What about?" He asked softly… not wanting to upset or discomfort him further.

Netto remained quiet for a short time longer, breathing rapidly rising and falling randomly, his hair was messy and warm and his body was sticky and moist.

Rockman to comfort him further pulled Netto between his legs as he spread them out and wrapped his arms around to boy's stomach protectively to show that he was there. _If Dark Rockman was here now… Id never hear the end of it He thought to himself, knowing that Dark Rockman would hate it further seeing his brother and a human so close to each other._

"It was about… about" he paused again, still staring into space.

Rockman wanted to persist him further to continue, but if Netto didn't want to talk about it then Rockman would worry further because it could be something serious, it could happen again… it could be stuck on Netto's mind for a long time, the possibilities were endless. "Come on Netto… don't keep it on your mind"

"Well… Um" He stuttered, still trembling "I was in a room… lying down I think. It was really bright, I couldn't even see myself, but I could hear voices, ones that were soft and calling to me for some reason… I know it sounds crazy and it doesn't seem like a nightmare but I started falling from the light and into darkness, I was falling and screaming for what seemed like forever until I found myself back in this world"

"Well… it's over now" Rockman comforted and begun rocking back and forth to keep him calm "I doubt it'll happen again"

_Maybe I should leave the questions till later when he's calmed down a bit more_… Rockman thought.

"I don't want that to happen again" Netto said, interrupting the navi's thoughts "I don't know who was calling my name but I felt like I knew them… somehow"

"Have you had these nightmares before?"

Netto was going to let the answer slide but he knew he couldn't hide it from Rockman "Yes, a few months or so ago, they come and go and I don't understand why"

"You're not expected to Netto" Rockman smiled "Trust me, we'll find out what's going on sooner or later"

* * *

Yardy. Sorry it's kind of short… It's just, I ran out of ideas for the rest of the chapter and just decided to cut it off there so I wouldn't go into crap for the rest of the story and talk about random things. :)


	10. The Hard Hitting Truth

_- The Hard-Hitting Truth -_

Sorry it's been a while… college really does take up a lot of my time.

* * *

It had been a full two weeks since Rockman had gotten any news from Blues about the situation with Netto and Rockman did start to worry… his mind flooded with different ideas on was taking him so long to find out some simple information.

But today was different, it had been literally Rockman's lucky day as Dark Rockman, his brother… a strong hater of humans had decided to look after Netto for the day whilst Rockman went to meet up with Blues, after two weeks of waiting around, escaping the net police whilst in net city and getting into various battles with other rogue net navis, this was a relief.

Rockman already knew why his brother had offered to look after him, mostly so that they could find out more information and get Netto back into the real world.

Once Rockman had met up with Blues, the quiet navi was the first to speak "I'm sorry for taking so long, it's just certain files that revolve around children are hidden much deeper than that of adults for protection, plus Ive had to be careful in not letting my net op know… so it's been tricky" he paused "I even asked around the office discretely and they claimed that many files had been deleted, damaged or lost"

Rockman's hope slowly faded, but that's not all Blues had to say.

"Don't worry though; I think I managed to find a file that was slowly decaying away… When I looked over it, I saw why it was slowly being left to rot. As I read over it, the file reported the many activities of a boy who suddenly slipped into a coma over two years ago and is still yet to awaken, however every now and then his parents have reported that he has moved slightly and cringed in his comatose state, but nothing more than those simple things, its sad really… the boys parents haven't moved from his side since they found him on his bedroom floor"

"Does it say his name, or describe what he looks like"

"Well, the name was probably erased for the boys protection, since they don't know what caused the coma in the first place, but it does gives two details. He has brown hair and had a net navi called Tomahawkman"

Rockman was unsure what to say… he was beyond speechless but so content on seeing this to the end "It has to be Netto, I know he had a navi called Tomahawkman"

"Well, I guess that solves everything, but how do you reckon he ended up in the coma?"

"I think it was when his net navi was in a battle like two years ago with one of the world three navis from the other week. He told me that before Tomahawk died he did something to Netto and he ended up in the net. So what I'm thinking is that Tomahawk somehow linked his mind to the net"

"That sounds almost impossible, the fact that a navi could link a human mind and give it a solid appearance on the net, he must have been a talented navi to be able to do that… but I wonder why he did it?"

"If I can remember, Netto said that his navi had done it as a present for him, but I think it goes much deeper than that statement"

"We should go visit his body, maybe there's something we can do"

There was a long pause, Rockman was unsure if it was such a good idea because he wondered if he was ready to see his body, he'd become so close to Netto that if his body had come in worse condition then he might not be able to handle the trauma of seeing it.

"What's wrong Rockman?" Blues added a few moments later

"What if… what if his body has worsened, he could look completely different to how he looks in the net, you know his mind could have just created that image while he could look completely different in the human world.

"Rockman, I'm sure that if his mind had to create an image in a few seconds then it obviously would have created his image to save time" Blues said.

Rockman nodded and followed Blues to the main hospital mainframe, his heart was thumping all the way there and he really didn't know what he was expecting to see.

They slowly staggered up to a navi dressed in nurse attire; she smiled and asked what she could do for them.

"Would it be okay if we see a friend of ours, he's called Netto"

"Are you referring to Netto Hikari?"

The navis both nodded.

"Well I would allow you to, but only selected navis, the boys parents, nurses and doctors are allowed to see him"

"Why?" Rockman asked, almost sounding frustrated.

"The patient's condition has worsened over the past couple of weeks, the coma he is in has turned life-threatening, there's only a two percent chance that he can come out of it now."

"It's that bad?" Blues said, knowing Rockman was almost on the floor in shock.

"We can't say much, but his body just isn't getting what it needs, with him being in a coma for so long, it's like he's loosing all connection with the human world completely, whatever his mind is doing its damaging his body" She finished.

Rockman looked and Blues and motioned his head to follow him quickly so they could have a quick private chat. "We'll be back in a second" Blues said before he left.

"Do you think, all them battles we got into, all the trouble we caused Netto in this world has worsened his condition in his world!" Rockman exclaimed frantically.

"Calm down, at least he's still alive…"

"Hopefully"

"Look, we just have to tell her that we need to see him, maybe if I tell her that I'm a net savour then she may let us see him"

Rockman nodded and walked back over to the nurse navi, ready to almost beg to see Netto. "Look, we really need to see him, its important… if anything we may know how to save him, to bring him out of his coma for good"

"Are you being serious?" The nurse navi seemed somewhat shock, but couldn't tell if they were lying or not.

"Yes, he is. Im a member of the net savours" He paused to show the net savour emblem "And we really do need to see him, if its only for a few minutes"

The nurse seemed convinced enough but just to make sure she turned and asked a neighbouring nurse navi for advice. A few minutes later they were allowed to see him for five minutes only. They followed the nurse navis through a maze of net-rooms that were linked to other patient's rooms.

They went inside a net-room that was guarded by two security navis and stopped in front of a screen that was divided in two, one that monitored Netto's outside body and the other monitored Netto's internal structure and organs..

"We decided on letting you see him, because we are desperate… you are not the first navis who have come here and told us that they could help, but none were successful"

Rockman's eyes were fixed on Netto's body, Blues had been right, Netto looked exactly how he looked in the real world as he does in the net. He breathed a sigh of relief at that, but there were a few differences, his body seemed much paler, his face had a few scratches, his leg was bandaged from the virus attack a while ago and from looking at that, he decided to ask what happened. "What happened to his leg?"

The nurse navi was quick to respond "We're not sure, it just happened, his body suddenly convulsed and his leg started bleeding, it was a while before we even noticed but when we came in the wound had dried up and he seemed fine again, we're not even sure how he calmed back down, the wound did look rather painful" She explained.

_All them battles, everything we've done… it's affected his body much greater than his mind… if only id have known from the start, I would have never took him into them battles, I would have been much more careful… I'm such an Idiot!_

Rockman diverted his attention from the sleeping body and looked up at his parents, who seemed like they'd lost hope… but still they remained by their son's side.

"Um…" Rockman stuttered "Mr and Mrs Hikari" He said, grabbing their attention, they stared down at the screen with expressionless faces. "I just want to let you know that your son… Netto, he is beyond safe and he will awake soon" He said smiling to make them feel better.

Their faces perked up but they seemed a little clueless, Mr Hikari was the first to reply "What do you mean? Do you know how to bring him back?" He seemed calm and a little more hopeful.

Rockman shook his head sadly "I'm sorry, I don't… all I know is that your son is safe and I know he wants to see you again…" he paused to let them reply.

"Stop fooling with us… are you that stupid? Netto is right in front of you, can't you see that we don't need to hear this right now" Mrs Hikari spoke up, she was almost on the verge of tears, her voice seemed croaky and soar "So just leave it with lying to make us feel better, because what you see here is the truth"

Rockman inhaled deeply and didn't shout back… he tried to remember that he wasn't his brother and the only way to handle this kind of situation was calmly and nicely, although he wasn't sure if it was right to tell her about Netto being on the net… but if he didn't tell her now then he could face more shouting and he didn't want to upset her further. "I know that's what you may think, but I'm not lying… I know Netto is safe because he is here on the net"

Their face's became stunned but as Mrs Hikari was about reply she was interrupted but this time by Blues "It's true, Netto is on the net, but it's his mind, it's was somehow linked here around the time you found him on the floor in his bedroom, it may be just a theory now… but I'm sure we can figure it out sooner or later, since we've practically figured out most of it already"

"We also think it was his ex-navi Tomahawkman who sent him here, apparently as the last present before he was deleted by world three net navis and that's how he ended up in a coma and how his mind is here"

"I… I never would have expected Tomahawkman to be that strong and intelligent enough to do all this, it just doesn't make sense, but I doubt he only would have done as a present"

"We think that too" Blues added.

"You know" Mrs Hikari interrupted, she seemed to believe the story this far so she added some of her own information into the mix "Netto had frequently left his pet at home and he never explained why, Tomahawkman always seemed very lonely and upset that he'd done that and every time I spoke to him, he always felt like Netto didn't like him or want him anymore"

"So maybe it was also so that Netto could find a new net navi and he could be happy again" Rockman added shortly afterwards. "I don't think Netto is losing his connection to this world though, I mean he talks about having nightmares of being in a bright white room and there are people calling out his name… but he always falls back into the darkness. It's not just that though… he turned almost holographic once, but he was able to turn solid a few minutes after…"

Blues nodded "But its getting his mind back with his body"

"Excuse me, but time's up" the nurse navi reminded them; they both nodded and waved their goodbyes to the Hikari's, telling them that they'll be back soon.

When the navi's had left the Hikari's were given peace and quiet once again, they seemed much more hopeful with their words from before. "Its great knowing all that now… all them times we've talked to Netto, said his name… he's heard us and it means that his mind must still be in his body, he just has to like… focus on waking up I guess…" Mr Hikari said happily, for the first time in what seemed like months he smiled.

"I feel awful for shouting at them… but I'm just so happy that there helping us now" Mrs Hikari added. "But do you think that Netto had returned back to a solid form on the net from holographic because he wanted to stay there? I mean if all he has to do is… wake up then why won't he?"

"Who knows…"

***  
_  
_When Rockman appeared back in the hideout, he was beyond surprised to see Netto and his brother talking quietly and happily, although Dark Rockman probably wasn't enjoying it… he was trying to make the most of it since Netto would be returning soon and maybe this was his chance to be normal again, if he re-established human friends then maybe the net police would let it slide since the incident was a long time ago and Damien had to have moved on by now, he probably even forgot about them anyway.

Considering all the arguments they had, Rockman trying to prove that humans were amazing, maybe it was starting to stick.

* * *

_Quite a progressive chapter, don't you agree? Sorry if it seems rushed. _


	11. Damiens Return

_- Damien's Return -_

* * *

_Rockman's POV_

When myself and Blues were walking back from the hospital yesterday, we had both decided that it would be best to take Netto back to his body in the hospital, he thought that maybe that way, he'd immediately re-connect with his body from seeing it… it was a theory but one that could work and get him out of this mess his own navi had put him in.

Honestly, for a navi that was about to die, you'd tell your operator something important if you had a close bond with them, but what did Tomahawk do? He sent his operator's mind here and made it form in the shape of his real body, with no way of knowing how to get back out.

But still, I'm really nervous and I know I shouldn't be, mostly because Dark Rockman says that being nervous is a disease, it slowly makes you become a coward if you let it consume you… but I'm nervous for Netto, there's things that could go wrong… or things that might not even happen at all … like him not being able to find the strength to re-connect with his body, and even if he does… how will he know how to find it, he's like a spirit missing it's body in some ways, and spirits are able to possess bodies… that means he could accidentally take on another person's body.

At least for now I know he's safe, tucked in my arms with his cloak wrapped around his innocent and small body, I do wonder what his parents would think if they saw him being held so lovingly and caringly in the arms of a navi, that would happen to be a boy too.

After we got home yesterday, I had found Dark Rockman who I had left to care for Netto whilst me and Blues had gone to the hospital, he seemed to have been getting along with Netto, for reasons unknown, it was a really good sight to see... before Netto came along Dark Rockman wouldn't even look at humans he despised them that much, but does this mean that he could be letting the light back through his blackened heart? I certainly hope so.

I'm watching Netto's chest slowly rise and fall, it's incredible that for such a young boy he has such a powerful heartbeat, even when it's slow… it can send shivers around my body… it's a strange sensation.

He slowly starts to stir as Dark Rockman makes his presence known, stomping around the hideout.

"Brother, keep it down" I shouted as low as I could as not to disturb Netto's slumber, he replied with a shrug of his shoulders and surprisingly walked as quiet as he could through the hideout, probably because his presence was now made aware of.

I lay Netto on the sold floor beside me, pulling my arm out from underneath his neck and removing my other arm from the top of his body, I decided that I needed to talk with my brother again, since he seemed calm enough, now was probably the best time.

Netto started to grip my hand as I was about the pull away; he seemed to be after the soft and comfortable warmth my electronical body provided "Sorry" I started and continued to pull my hand away, even though it was so adorably cute what he was doing "I have to speak to my brother, you understand right?" I asked and received and small nod and felt his grip loosen enough for me to slip away and join my brother who was staring out into the large hideout.

"I'm taking Netto to the hospital today"

"In hopes of?" He replied

"In hopes of getting him back into his body, back where he belongs"

"Good" Dark Rockman replied, seeming almost harsh and almost not.  
"Hm" I sighed and felt even more depressed and nervous than before.

"You look like you're about to throw up…" Dark Rockman asked me; of course I was almost on my knees in worry, so it was likely that he was bound to say something to do with throwing up, which made me feel worse.

"I'm just worried, I don't want anything to happen, I mean this could all turn out to be one big failure and then we're back to the drawing board"

"Well, let's hope not" He replied, which I had to wonder… why would he say something that sounded almost as full of worry as I was, so I gave him a weird look that in return made him blush and realize what he had said, so he added "Cause that damn human is getting on my nerves"

"Yeah, yeah…" I mocked him, he'd actually cheered me up… it had been a very, very long time since he had done that.

"So, what do you plan to do once he is back where he belongs?"

"I don't know, I guess our lives will return back to normal… you know, just us two like it always will be"

Dark Rockman gave me a quick glance and then looked away realizing that just by my facial expression I no longer wanted it to be just the two of us, I relied on the humans because not only did they make excellent company but they were great friends to the navi's, that's what I was to Damien… "You don't have to lie to me Rockman, I know you want to be Netto's navi… jeez I thought you might have had a little courage left over to tell me that"

"It's not that, I just don't want to leave my own brother, when we were given to Damien we were given as a pair and not separated because we're one-of-a-kind" I said, I hated it when my brother made me feel so guilty, but I just couldn't believe what I was hearing… Dark Rockman was calmly talking to me and even discussing what we were going to do after Netto leaves, he even knows that I want to be Netto's navi, but like that isn't obvious.

"Even so, I'm fully aware now that it was me that killed them innocent net navi's, our own friends years ago, you had nothing to do with it"

He was even admitting his own failures, wow… something had changed, and I seriously didn't know whether to like it or hate it, I mean the old Dark Rockman was a bit of a dare-devil and a trouble-maker, he also didn't think and he went by what he believed and rather strongly at that, but now he seemed much… happier? Fessing up to his own mistakes was something he'd never do; up until now he'd blamed the both of us for what happened years ago, now he's just blaming himself…

"What kind of conversation did you have with Netto-kun yesterday?" I joked; it had to be something to do with that… he'd never change this quickly and become so nice afterwards.

I could tell he hated this new demeanor, but hell that'll soon change due to trouble we're in as well as the WWW navi's out and about, he's bound to get frustrated and just start killing again… I might not even be there to stop him…

"Nothing, he just kinda… opened my eyes and all" He paused, a hint of pink from embarrassment grazing his cheeks, immediately he flicked his eyes from left to right to think up what he was going to say before Rockman had interrupted "Anyway, what I was saying was that I think you should probably become his navi"

"Serious?" I replied "But what about you, I can't and won't leave you to fend for yourself, you'll surely be killed by those navi's or even taken in by the net po~" Before I could even finish he'd interrupted me… well it was nice to see that hadn't changed…

"What have I said you idiot, you don't need to worry, I can take care of myself, I don't need anybodies help in fighting those cowards from WWW and the net police couldn't catch me even if I stood in front of them" He smirked, still evil as ever I thought.

Our conversation was disturbed when Netto had begun mumbling my name in his sleep, no doubt did he miss me by his side.

"We never had this conversation Rockman" He said just as I was about to leave, in return I nodded and went back to the sleeping body up ahead, it was fair enough that he wanted to keep such a conversation to himself, it was almost as deep as the black heart buried within himself, but I could see it now… little bits of light shining through, I was beyond happy to hear how he had become so caring over night, Netto must have really said something to change his ways.

_"Sometimes, other peoples happiness can make you happy too" _That specific sentence was one Damien had told me and Dark Rock one day when we were fighting over space in the pet, it brings back memories… afterwards though we learned to share and we each had enough space in the pet for ourselves… and we were both happy for it, to be honest though… whenever I saw my brother smile, I always smiled too.

I rejoined Netto, lying next to him and allowing him to steal some of my warmth again, once I saw his smile it instantly reminded me of Damien's, even though I didn't want to, I couldn't keep comparing Netto and life to Damien anymore, he was in the past now, most probably moved on with a better and much more original navi, one that didn't have a loco brother who went around killing your best friends-friends navi's.

I lightly smirked to myself, what Damien had said had always come true, seeing others happy made me happy too, because it was such a good feeling.

I was disturbed out of my thoughts when someone started nudging at my arm it was obviously Netto but the feeling I got when I looked at him… it wasn't good, he'd turned extremely pale, his eyes were partially open but he looked drowsy and as I could tell his body was over-heating. _A fever? _I thought… but he was only a soul, or a spirit, a reincarnation of his mind as such in this world, he shouldn't have been able to become ill, especially since there are no human virus's on the net…

"Rock-u-man" He said, his voice was really quiet and husky, something was definitely wrong.

"Netto-kun, what's wrong?" I replied; this wasn't something that I had come across before, of course Damien had been ill in the past, but I never really got involved, his mother, father and doctors took care of him, but now it's me that has to do something… I know nothing about human illness and I don't have time to research.

I don't even understand how he managed to catch something like this... he was certainly fine before, nothing was wrong with him but now this?!

"Dark Rockman!" I called out to my brother, who after a few moments turned around and by hearing how worried my voice sounded he was quick coming over to my side.

"What's up?"

"Something's wrong with Netto-kun, he doesn't look well"

"It's normal for humans to get sick isn't it?"

"Yeah, in the human world, not on the net, there's no human virus's on the net for them to get sick with!" I panicked, looking back and could see the pupils in Netto's eye get smaller and smaller, like he was about to pass out.

"We have to get him to the hospital" I said

"Okay" Dark Rockman replied, he really did seem like he had changed, he never would have wanted to help a human out before… maybe there's something he likes about Netto…

* * *

When we arrived at the hospital, we took him to the net-room his body was in, this time we were allowed entrance immediately because we were carrying Netto's soul/spirit.. whatever with us, however Dark Rockman had only accompanied us so far due to the fact he was still wanted, but then again so was I, but nobody knew we were related, they thought we were just similar models or something, so that's how I was allowed in.

I told my brother to call Blues and get him over here straight away, I needed the extra help.

A net-bed was set up for Netto's soul; the nurse navi's were checking him over, even though it was pretty difficult with him being human.

I was finally told a few minutes later that Netto's soul was ill due to the fact that his body in the human world was ill too, he had caught a common flu, not deadly at all but it did cause some bodily problems, like drowsiness, pale skin, urges to pass out etc… so I was immediately set at ease.

"Thank god" I replied after the nurse navi had finished explaining.

"I think it would be best if you left his soul with us, that way we can get a couple of scientists and navi's down to help us figure out how to get him back" She said.

I wasn't sure if I was okay with him going back yet, I was enjoying him being on the net… but then I re-thought that and decided this might be for the best, Netto may not agree with it, but the longer he stays on the net, the more he loses his attachment to the human world, he's already been here for like two years, I'm surprised to see how he's even managed to stay on this long if them occurrences had happened a few times before.

All these nurses running around, this room in general... how small and crowded it was... it was even making me feel sick, so I had to leave for a while when Blues finally arrived, I left him in charge of looking after Netto whilst I went for a walk around the net hospital.

I came upon the navi part of the hospital, where sick and injured navi's would rest and try to get better, it was kind of horrible looking into some of the rooms and seeing all kinds of navi's in really bad condition.

But then I stumbled upon something, the only navi room that had a screen with a human in it… but then I realized who that human was… it was either really him or an exact replica, he had perfect, straight blonde hair, silver eyes… it was Damien and in the room was most likely his navi, an un-customized one that was in very bad shape… what in the world had he been doing?

I was unsure whether to continue walking ahead or whether to go in… I was the good twin after all, what have I got to lose by just saying hi? So that's when I did it, I decided to go in; I slowly opened the door, probably alerting Damien who looked over in the screen.

After I poked my head through I saw his eyes change, he wasn't sad anymore… he was surprised, or even happy to see me. "Rock?" He said

"Damien…"

"Wuh… what are you doing here?" He stuttered, yeah he was probably surprised more than happy.

"Oh, my friend isn't very well so I brought him here" I wasn't going to tell him about Netto, or about my brother… I just wanted to talk to him, get things straight and stuff.

"I see…" He said and then looked back down at his navi "Well, my stupid navi decided it would be a good idea to ignore me, say I was a pathetic net-op and then rush of into a net-battle without any of my help…"

So that's why he's so badly beaten up, it's true that without any aid from a human a navi can really lose their mind and act crazily, that also kind of explains why Dark Rockman is starting to control himself, it's because of someone like Netto being around.

Damien always treated me great, gave me the special treatment, sent me into battle much more than my brother, which is why in the end he probably just went crazy and ended up killing our friends, then he slowly got worse as we were away from human contact but when Netto came into our lives he saw the light again and begun to take better control of himself.

Everything was slowly pulling together… and I was happy that somehow it was all happening because of myself seeing Damien once again, he had certainly grown over the past couple of years, but he didn't look the slightest bit different.

"I see" I replied, I could tell that he seemed a little crazy himself, like he'd been sipping nothing but coffee for years and had been majorly sleep deprived… but still his eyes seemed to glow.

"Rock" He said "I can't take having un-customized navi's anymore, won't you be my net-navi again, it'll be back to the way it was, like it used to be and like it should be"

"What?" I replied, suddenly in shock from what he had proposed, was he being serious? "Your net-navi again?"

"Yeah yeah! Rock… it'll be great, we were always meant to be together, you and me as a team"

"But… what about my brother?" I replied

"Oh.. He's still alive is he?" He sounded a little annoyed that he was, that's probably what he didn't want to hear.

"Of course! If anything he's been keeping me alive"

"Well, I'll certainly have you back, but your brother can either be captured by the net police or continue being on the run"

"What" I said "You won't accept him back?"

"I know it wasn't you who killed them navi's years ago, in fact there fine, their pet's managed to recover their data and they were rebuilt, exactly the same, nothing changed… the police still chased after you because I told them to capture Dark Rockman, to be honest… I never really liked him"

I slowly inched backwards towards the door… this wasn't the Damien I remembered… the one I knew was sweet, innocent and kind, he smiled all the time and even though I knew he preferred me over my brother he still treated us the same… so why now? What had made him loose his mind so much?

"Damien…" I sorrowfully added "I can't accept, Even if I did become you're net op again, it just wouldn't be the same without my brother by my side, we work together as a team, as we always should have, but you never used him, which made him kill them net-navis and made us run away, even though you seemed nice you always had your horrible moments" I explained "Your just a child" I said, I didn't like anything I was saying, but how he had turned was something similar to how Dark Rockman had turned, he appeared insane "Look, just move on Damien, that's what I'm doing and you should too, if you can't accept me and my brother together then you'll just have to live with un-customized navi's until you learn how to treat us better"

Damien was almost close to tears, his head was just about in the screen, he seemed to have been crying… and I hated hearing it because there was nothing I could say or do now to stop him, he had to hear all that even though it almost broke my heart saying it… he was a good friend, just a bad net-op.

So with that I left the room, hoping that I would never cross his path again.

* * *

Hmmm. Only a few more chapters left to go (:


	12. Dark Rockman's True Colors

_- Dark Rockman's True Colors -_

* * *

Rockman was sat by himself next to Netto's bed in the hospital, ever since Netto had been placed in the hospital he hadn't wanted to leave, it even caused him to see his old Net Op who had changed for the worst and something he never expected to happen… but in humans change was very easy.

It had been almost three days since Netto was brought to the hospital after he had somehow caught some kind of fever on the net, after that though they had been told it was due to his human body catching a common flu. Rockman was just hoping he'd pull through okay, his body had been dormant for so long that it would take some time for it to overcome the illness.

The other thing he couldn't get off his mind was his brother, who since the pointless killing of their friends he knew to be very cold-hearted, irritant and somewhat evil, but now since Netto had come into their lives he had somehow passed all that and moved on, he'd even come to accept Netto as a friend more or less, whether it be he was just behaving like that so that Netto would be gone much quicker or whether it was genuine, Rockman couldn't tell, but he did seem true to most of his words. It was very good of him to take them both to the hospital. If Rockman had the time to mention that their friends on the net had been brought back from the shadows then he would probably feel much better and happier.

But Rockman couldn't leave Netto's side, the human's parents were even starting to worry about the Navi, they had never seen such compassion and emotion for a human in all their lives, not even Tomahawkman, Netto's previous Navi could compare to him. Over the past few days of seeing Rockman constantly at the bedside of Netto's mind, soul or whatever it may be they had come to trust and accept him much more and would even go as far as allowing Rockman to be Netto's new Navi, if that's what Netto wanted.

Rockman was pleased with that fact, but he wouldn't allow his brother to live a fugitive life. Since Netto's father, Yuuichiro had good connections with the Net Police; he wondered if there was a chance their name could be somehow cleared. Since the navi's had also been brought back alive, everyone was happy so there was no point continuing the case.

So now at least they would have no more trouble from the police, Damien would hopefully move on and find a customized Navi that would suit him and Dark Rockman would be able to walk the streets again.

It all seemed pretty perfect, but it was not over yet, Netto was still in the net, sleeping peacefully and happy knowing Rockman was right next to him. It was getting very late and for the fourth night Rockman was staying by his side.

A few of the nurse navis had pleaded with him to go but he just shook his head and said he wanted to stay no matter what, they couldn't argue or try to force him to leave so they allowed him to stay again.

It wasn't long after they had gone when Netto slowly stirred awake, his eyes found Rockman instantly and his smile rose higher in joy.

"Hi Netto" Rockman added, sounding tearful and happy with his weakened voice, he was pretty much running out of energy but it didn't stop him from staying. He placed his gloved hand to Netto's cheek and stroked it gently whilst the boy happily accepted the sign of affection. "I'm so glad you're okay" He added, Rockman moved closer to the solid data bed and pulled over the chair he had been sat on previously.

"Where am I?" Netto asked, looking around the room. Rockman removed his hands and took hold of Netto's to provide better comfort.

"You're in the net hospital, you had a terrible fever a few days ago and you've only just managed to get this far in the recovery"

"But I'm on the net, how can I get a fever if the virus doesn't exist here?" He asked inquisitively.

"Your body in the human world came down with a flu a few days ago which affected you too" He paused not knowing how Netto would react to that.

"Really? So I'm sort of in the human world?"

"Yeah, well you're body is, you've been in a coma ever since you came on the net, I think it's safe to say you are the mind of your human body and it's said that every body needs a mind to live"

"So my human body is going to die?" He exclaimed seeming panicked.

"No, no… It won't if you return to it within the next couple of days, you're body is weakening and it needs you back before it's too late"

"But I don't know how to get back… Tomahawkman never told me, he didn't have the time to be honest"

"It's okay" Rockman tightened his grip on Netto's small and icy cold hand "We'll figure something out" He smiled, Netto smiled in return and looked around the cold and barley lit room.

"I do miss being back in the human world"

"Your parents do too"

"My parents?" Netto added

"Yeah, they came by nearly every day when you were in the hospital, they were starting to lose hope about you ever recovering until I came here and told them that you were on the net, I don't think they believed me at first but I managed to prove it to them"

"That's good, they must be awfully worried"

"They are, but don't worry… they just want you to return home safely"

Netto nodded in reply and went back to being quiet until Rockman brought something else up.

"Netto, what did you say to my brother?" He wondered.

"Dark Rockman? Nothing, I just said a few things whilst he was ignoring me"

"Well, the ignoring part sounds like him, but what did you say to him? He's _completely_ changed"

"I don't know, I just told him what I thought…"

* * *

_Flash back_

_"I can't believe I'm stuck here babysitting a human, a human on the net!" Dark Rockman complained to himself whilst watching over Netto who was sat a small distance away from him, messing around with his cloak._

_"It could be worse, Dark Rocky" Netto replied, looking over at the sulking dark net Navi. "Besides didn't you offer to look after me today?"_

_"Will you stop calling me that, you make me sound like a child or something" He paused "And so what if I did, if it gets you back where you belong any quicker then I'm glad to help"_

_Netto ignored the last part and instead answered to the first "Oh right, I forgot you're nothing like your brother are you? He's much better and nicer towards me!" Netto retorted._

_"I don't care what he's like towards you, if you ask me I think he lets you off too easily, you don't deserve such great treatment"_

_"Well, I do actually… because I treat him exactly the same way"_

_"That doesn't matter, you're a human and humans can't be trusted"_

_"You forget the big picture Dark Rock-kun, if it wasn't for humans you wouldn't be here right now, trying to argue with a child"_

_"Don't add 'kun' at the end of my name either, that makes me sound… cute" He nearly barfed at the word "And that is the only thing I'm grateful for humans about, they actually created something meaningful in their worthless lives"_

_Netto remained silent for a moment, thinking of a way to make him see everything differently… "And what about your previous human? I'm sure he was the highlight of your life when you were with him"_

_"That's all changed now, because of him… me and my brother have had to suffer, constantly running away from the law for something that we both committed"_

_"You both committed? What did you do that was so bad…?"_

_"We killed a few of our Operator's Navi's, but I don't see what the big deal about it is anyway, they were weaklings"_

_"Rockman… killed Net Navi's?" Netto replied, ignoring the last part of his sentence, it just didn't seem right for someone like Rockman to kill. "You've got to be lying, why would Rockman kill others, he's far too nice and sweet"_

_"Well… he did back then" He replied after a few moments of silence, which really made Netto think._

_"Wait… I think I get it. You blamed Rockman because you were worried that if only you had been blamed then you would have been taken away and deleted, then at least if everyone thought you had both done it then you could've convinced Rockman to come with you. You're hatred towards human's is tough, but I think I have it… you hate humans because you're Operator showed greater love and respect towards Rockman because he was more lively and stronger than you were back then, so he used Rockman more in fights and left you out which caused you to act out during a fight" Netto smiled, feeling accomplished._

_Dark Rockman smirked and ignored him… but his mind spinned with the words Netto had just said… how on earth was he able to sum up the entire picture so easily. This nine year old child could read people like a book, but then again so could anyone with time and practice, he probably would have learned to do so anyway to keep himself safe whilst he was trapped on the Net. "So… what are you like some kid genius?" Dark Rockman replied harshly, not bothering to make some eye contact._

_"No, I just know enough to say enough really. Whatever happened between you and you're Net Op is in the past… wouldn't you feel better knowing that your own brother didn't have to suffer for something such as that? I mean Rockman mean's so much to me… but I'll never forget Tomahawkman and I can probably never forgive Elecman for destroying him but that was in the past… As soon as I return home I just want to get on with life where I left off"_

_"It doesn't matter, it's not like we can undo what happened"_

_"How do you know? You could make Rockman really happy by letting him go. You wouldn't have to be alone if you found yourself an Operator… one you can really connect with. I mean, obviously someone like who you previously had would have been hard to communicate with, especially if there were two of you"_

_Dark Rockman knew he was right, maybe if he had Damien all to himself then things might have turned out differently. He looked up at the child in front of him. "You really like my brother don't you?" He asked._

_"He was there for me when I was alone on the Net. He was the only Net Navi who seemed interested in me and I thought that maybe he would one day be a perfect Navi for me"_

_Dark Rockman smirked "You really think I can get another Operator? It's not that simple, myself and Rockman are still fugitives"_

_"I promise, when I return home… I'll clear your names, you'll be free Navi's and I'll help you find an Operator. I want you to be happy Dark Rockman and your brother does too, but you need to realize that you can't be together forever because these problems will just keep occurring" He smiled._

_Dark Rockman nodded and replied with a simple "Thank You" Before he turned and thought to himself for a while… it didn't seem real enough… he was finally going to be free?_

_Flash back end_

* * *

"That's all I said to him… he must have really taken in everything I said… even though at first it seemed like he really didn't care" Netto added shortly afterwards.

"You really meant that you were going to clear our names?" Rockman replied excitedly "That would be so great of you, Netto-kun!"

"My father has a few connections with the Net Police, I'm sure he'd have a talk with them. I want you to be happy… especially with whatever you decide to do when I leave" He said, sort of hoping that Rockman had already decided that he would be his Net Navi.

Rockman went silent and looked away momentarily… deciding what to say next. Netto continued to stare at him more worriedly than ever, unsure what he was thinking. "Rockman?" Netto asked.

Rockman sighed and turned back. "Netto, I _want_ to be your Net Navi… but something's holding me back"

"Your brother?"

"It's just… I don't want him to feel alone, like I get the better option and he won't. I know he wants what's best for me now but I want what's best for him"

"Oh" Netto turned away, seeming a little hurt at his words. "But I'm going to help him, he won't be alone… we can both help him. You can't be expected to look out for your brother for the rest of your life… You can do as you please!" Netto said, almost in a begging manner.

"Please… Netto, just wait for me. I will be your Net Navi… but when everything is settled and sorted, okay?" He continued to warm Netto's hand in his own, hoping that he would understand. Netto nodded in reply and closed his eyes once again as he still felt a little dazed and tired. "Okay… Rockman" He said in a whispering tone and smiled gently. Rockman couldn't help but lean in and give him a very tight hug, thinking that he'd never get the chance to do it again when he returned home.

His hug was disturbed when a sudden knock came on the door. "Come in" Rockman replied after he had pulled himself away from the boy below and was now looking towards the door, surprised to see Blues by the entrance.

"Rockman, we need to talk"

* * *

Mwaha. Nearly there now guys ;)_  
_


	13. Declaration

_-_ _Declaration -_

_Sorry about my temporary death, I've been busy…  


* * *

_  
"Oh, Blues, I didn't expect to see you here so soon. What is it?" Rockman said as he followed Blues out of the room and as the door closed, he turned to face him. A thought crossed his mind as to why Blues had come at such an unusual hour.

"I've been doing some digging and I've actually found out quite a bit of information, I've even come to realize something"

"Realize something?" Rockman replied inquisitively.

"Well, as we already know, Tomahawkman was the reason Netto ended up on the net, but I doubt the navi wanted him to stay on the net for two whole years. My guess is that there is that there is a separate programme that was created alongside the original which brought Netto here in the first place. Except this side programme will be able to send him back home, but I don't think he told Netto about either programs before he was murdered, he's pretty much in the dark about everything"

Rockman looked at him with surprise "So there may be a way to get him home?"

"Yes, we just need to look for that programme" Blues added.

"Hmm… The only one who knows about the programme is Tomahawkman, so I'm guessing that only he knew where it was" He paused for thought "But think about it, if you had just created a valuable program such as that, the one place I'd want to store it is in my pet, maybe it's there!" He said excitedly.

"It's plausible, but we need to remember that it's not been used for two years, so it will obviously be the old model, as well as that it could have hundreds of viruses or bug problems that'll cause us a problem if we come across them. We're not even sure if his parent's still have it.

"Still, we have to try, you never know, they may still have it. I'm going to let Netto know about what we've found out" Rockman turned and was about to open the door, but Blues gripped hold of his arm and turned him back around.

"I know you want to tell him, but now isn't a great time. You and I both know that his mind is in a difficult position at the moment and any unnecessary stress or worry may harm the connection to his body. I'm aware that any longer he spends on the internet may ruin his chances of ever returning home but we have to take it easy and find that program. If we rush, things may get complicated and we may sever the connection between his body and mind, or worse…" Blues replied, letting go of Rockman's arm when he knew he wouldn't tell Netto about what he had heard.

"Worse?"

"I'd rather not worry you with that outcome. But don't worry, everything will work out, we'll wait until morning and we'll ask his parents to come in, we'll speak with them in private and let them know what's happening. I know the temptation of telling Netto about this is great but we seriously need to keep it low for now. Hold on until the morning alright?" He asked, almost nicely.

"Alright, thanks Blues" Rockman replied, smiling softly.

"Anyway, I'd love to stay and chat, but I need to get back to Enzan. He hates it when I just suddenly disappear without telling him. Deep down, he just wants my company" He smirked.

"Have you told Enzan about what's going on?"

"A little, but what with him being the Vice President of IPC, he barely has time to breathe let alone get involved with other people's business. When he isn't working, he's studying, practicing net battling or performing tasks for the Net Police. So I haven't really bothered to let him know about what I'm getting up to. I'm sorry to say but I don't really think he'd be that interested."

"Poor Enzan, he must rarely spend time with you then. But I suppose if he lives that kind of lifestyle then letting him know as little as possible is for the best. Anyway, you should probably get going" With that Blues happily complied and smiled as they parted ways and Blues quickly left the hospital. Rockman remained outside the room for a few minutes to think things through by himself. He felt oddly stressed and certainly worried, he hoped to the depths of his heart that everything would work out; he couldn't stand to see Netto suffer anymore. They had become so close and it was all thanks to Tomahawkman in the end, even through a cruel and upsetting twist of fate, they were together and would undoubtedly become partners when Netto would finally be back where he belonged, in the human world.

Rockman couldn't stand the thought of waiting any longer, his patience was wearing thin and he knew time was running out. So without much hesitation, he ran towards the reception desk and waited for a nurse navi to come over. "Nurse, I know it's late, but would you be able to do me a favor? It's a bit of an emergency" It was time to get some help, and Rockman knew just who to bring over.

"Well... I suppose" She replied "But what is it?"

"Would you be able to contact the human hospital and ask them to call the Hikari family over? I really need to speak to them and the sooner the better. Can you also ask them to bring their son's PET, it's really important that they do."

"Hmm, I suppose if it's anything that will help the progression of the Hikari child then who am I to say no?" She replied happily. She left the reception and disappeared for a couple of minutes. Rockman relaxed and waited peacefully, knowing that he was helping move the process of getting Netto back home a lot quicker, although Blues had told him not to rush and take it easy...

The nurse navi soon returned with good news. "I've told my partner to get in touch with the Hikari's, hopefully they should arrive shortly if they can, and I'll let you know if anything changes. But for now you should go and wait"

Rockman couldn't thank her enough and excitedly made his way back to Netto's room, where the innocent child lay fast asleep on the solid and cold net bed. Rockman quietly sat beside him and gazed at his sleeping face. He soon became impatient again and unsure of what to do to pass the time.

However, within an hour the Hikari's popped up on a screen just above the bed. They both appeared severely sleep-deprived and grumpy, but none the less they weren't about to speak inappropriately to a navi that was helping to bring their son home.

"Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Hikari, Thank you so much for coming, I'm sorry about waking you at this time and asking you to come down, but it's a bit of an emergency.." Rockman said thankfully.

"Rockman, please… if it's going to get our son home then we'll do anything to help." Haruka said "So, what did you need us for?"

"I think I know how to get Netto home…" He said wearily, none the less it pleased the Hikari's to hear so. "Did you bring Netto's pet?"

"Yeah" Yuichiro said, bringing it up to the screen "But this thing is old, it hasn't been used in two years, it probably doesn't even work anymore"

"Doesn't matter, as long as I can access it from the net it should be okay. I have a theory that there may be some kind of sub-programme which Tomahawkman had also created alongside the original program which separated your son's consciousness from his body and brought it here. But this sub-program _should_ reconnect the two and send him home, I'm assuming it's probably that simple but we'll have to wait and see" Rockman replied positively.

With Rockman's help, they knew their son was going to be returned home safe and sound, so without hesitation they nodded, understanding his logic.

"Call me crazy, but I also think Netto is here for a reason, at first I believe Tomahawkman created the program to simply bring Netto here for a bit and then have him safely return back to the human world but he was never able to use it. But during that battle he must have known he wouldn't survive, so he quickly altered the program as well as the sub-program and brought Netto here moments after his death. I don't think he told Netto about either program because he would have returned home the same day, I'm not entirely sure on the reason either and by the looks of it, neither is Netto"

"A reason? But what reason would he have to send my son onto the net? It's such a dangerous place filled with rogue navi's, weird viruses and all kinds of dangers that no human should come up against" Haruka said "But if it hadn't of been for you Rockman, my son would have been dead now. So thank you for looking out for him all this time"

"Well, honestly, I've only just recently met Netto, well, before we got close I had seen him every so often in Net City, but before he properly met me he must have been on his own all that time."

Yuichiro and Haruka looked at each other, overwhelmed by his survival on the net. Haruka finally spoke up after a minute or so of silence. "Alright Rockman, we'll do whatever we can to help you, if it gets our son home any quicker then we'll give you anything you need" Yuichiro added.

Rockman smiled, pleased at the results. He looked back at Netto, sleeping peacefully and silently in front of him, it didn't take long for Netto's parents to notice how caring and protective Rockman seemed over their son. Yuichiro even asked "Rockman, is it possible that you want to be our son's net navi when he returns?"

Rockman looked up instantly, a slight tint of pink varnished his face, "I'd love to be, believe me I would… but I have a twin brother who I really can't abandon, even for someone as amazing as Netto. He's noticed as well that I want to be at Netto's side and he's told me to be his navi but I just don't know what he'd do without me, I know he'll manage but I can't be too sure" He explained sadly.

"Oh, well has your brother met Netto?"

"Well before we met Netto my previous operator had made it clear that he no longer wanted us after an accident involving my brother and our other navi friends. We became solo navis and eventually a strong hatred towards humans grew on my brother and he really despised them and their actions, especially how they treated us navis. But when I found Netto a few days ago and took him to our hideout my brother nearly blew a fuse, but eventually he grew to like him and because of Netto, his thoughts on humans even changed, but the fact that he changed so quickly and so easily was incredible and it's certainly made my life a little easier now. I've missed having a human operator, my brother wasn't really bothered but I hated not being able to join in net battles or learn more about humans. When I met Netto I thought it was my chance to reconnect with humans and begin my life again as a net navi." Rockman explained.

Yuichiro and Haruka smiled at each other, certainly happy to have met someone like Rockman.

"My brother seems to think that Netto will be happy with someone like me and certainly well looked after… but I know Netto will be fine, even without me… it's just my brother"

"Rockman… don't rush into anything, okay? When Netto returns back to our world he'll need some time to re-adjust and get back on his feet, so I'm sure whilst he's doing that you can occupy some time by deciding what you want, I'm sure whoever you decide to be with is what's best for you." Haruka explained calmly, as if she was reaching out a hand through the screen to comfort Rockman.

"Well, my mind is pretty fixed on getting Netto back home at the moment more than worrying about what will happen to me and my brother afterwards. The net is such a dangerous place for a human and we realize that now that we've experienced quite some trouble, I've done everything possible to keep him safe"

"And we can't thank you enough for doing that. We heard from the Doctors that if his mind get's injured on the net then his body is also affected, pain is both a mental and physical part of being human" Yuichiro added. "So we were quite worried when he begun convulsing the other day and his leg suddenly begun bleeding, we didn't realize it was because he was hurt on the net"

"Mettaurs can do quite some damage, especially to humans." He paused to discontinue the chatting "Anyway, we should probably get started; can you plug the PET in somewhere? A link should hopefully be noticeable then and I'll be able to make my way into the pet."

Yuichiro looked around for a plug-in point and eventually found one in the monitor which displayed their world. He plugged it in and Rockman found the link to the pet. "I'll only be gone for a couple of minutes, so keep an eye on Netto whilst I'm gone" And with that, Rockman disappeared.

He re-appeared in the pet, which was dark and almost reminded him of the darker regions of the net where all the rebel solo navi's reside. The walls were covered with cybernetic dust and cobwebs to show just how long it had been in stasis and hadn't been used. He browsed around the small area at first, moving cobwebs away from his path and occasionally coughing from the dust he had disturbed. He attempted to find the panel in which all pet's had to help the navis perform tasks and communicate with others.

When he did eventually find it, the panel was even worse off and appeared severely unused. He was unsure whether to snoop around on the database, he didn't want to come into any viruses or make any appear, he wasn't in the mood for fighting. But he couldn't hesitate any longer. He tried to load up the panel and after a few moments it eventually worked. Happy that he had got it going, he started to clear the panel of dust and cobwebs to make sure he could see every part of it. He looked around every so often to make sure there wasn't anything lurking in the pet.

Once it had loaded, he started to browse around the various programs and smaller documents stored on the pet, there were numerous files all about the program and the sub-program in which Tomahawk had created, but nothing about what it was or how to use them, they were simply just empty files that looked tampered with.

After a couple of minutes of searching, he eventually came across something that looked promising, it was quite a large folder containing numerous documents, under the name of _**"Pro-net" **_He initially thought the term was short for Project Netto, or net or something like that. He opened up the folder and instantly smiled, having found what he was looking for.

But his happy moment was cut short when various viruses begun appearing around him and begun destroying the panel. He turned around and opened up his trademark Buster and started firing at them repeatedly, there were various Mettaurs, accompanied by Swordy's and Satellites. They each fired multiple attacks and continually tried to aim at both Rockman and the panel in which he protected.

When the viruses suddenly stopped firing in order to charge their attacks, Rockman took the opportunity to form a simple Sword and attack the viruses, destroying a handful, but not all of them. From destroying the visible viruses, more and more dust lifted from the surfaces and circulated in the pet, which meant visibility was down for both Rockman and the remaining viruses. So he took the opportunity to stumble back over to the panel and continue searching through the data which he had come across and he needed to search through it quick before the dust settled and the viruses continued their attack. He eventually came across a small memo, a video memo in which was dated two years ago, most likely about the time when Tomahawkman was killed and Netto was brought onto the net. He opened it and let the video file load, eventually the video begun playing and pictured was Tomahawkman.

_Netto, I hope you're okay and that you've moved on since my death. I've recorded this message to accompany my project. It has been my dream to see you in person and I always hoped that I would get my wish. But I do hope you remember a few weeks ago when I went to Sci Labs for a checkup? Well, I was told that I was created with a virus program in order to complete my design, but they warned me that over excessive use of my weaponry may trigger the virus, so they said I should avoid net battling, but I know how much you love your net battles and I can never upset you. Recently, I've been getting sicker and the virus is really affecting my programming, I can barely do anything without being controlled, I can't really live like this anymore. I know today might be our last day today together, we're visiting the Arena in Net City, so this will probably be it for me. But certainly not for you Netto, I never told you about the programs I created, one which will bring you here and the other will send you home. However, I've modified them both, the one that brings you here will active when I die and the other that will send you home will only do so when you find what you're looking for, Netto-kun. I want you to be happy, I was never you're net navi, we never saw eye to eye, but we'll always be friends. Find that navi you belong with and make it work and you'll grow up happy. Please take what I've told you into consideration, don't stay on the net too long, it's too dangerous without a net navi to protect you. You're parents might be freaking out too! Activate the program, announce you're new net navis name and you'll be sent home. That's all it takes, trust me on this and you'll be happy… Bye Netto, and thank you, for everything._

With that, the video memo ended, Rockman stood back from the panel and gazed at the screen above him for a few moments, letting what he had heard sink in. Everything was suddenly made clear to him, but he wasn't sure on the sub-program that was supposed to send Netto home, was it really that easy? Announce a net-navis name that he chooses to be with? There had to be a hidden meaning behind that, but as he searched through the computer there were no other forms of analysis on the programs. Even so, he trusted Tomahawkman's logic and downloaded the programs.

At this point, the dust had settled enough to reveal the other viruses. So with a quick pace, Rockman finished downloading the programs and he turned on his feet, opening up another Buster and destroying the remaining viruses. After which he turned back to face the screen and looking for some other intel on the programs. With no other evidence about the sub-program, he turned off the panel and left the pet, returning back to the net hospital, specifically Netto's room where his parents were eagerly awaiting the news.

"Did you find what you were looking for, Rockman?" Yuichiro was quick to ask.

"Yes, believe it or not, it's actually a simple procedure for Netto to return back to the human world, it's just slightly unbelievable though, I mean, I found a video memo of Tomahawkman and he said that his body had been partially created with a virus in order to complete his form, he basically knew the virus was eating away at him, thus rendering his abilities almost useless which meant he knew his time was coming to an end. He said he altered the programs before he went to Net City with Netto that day and he changed how Netto would come here and leave."

"And?" Yuichiro added.

"The sub-program which will take him home has to be activated, after which he has to say which Net Navi he wants as his own and I assume he will be sent home afterwards" Rockman explained, after hearing it again, it still sounded a little far-fetched.

The Hikari's looked at each other again, slightly concerned with the logic themselves, but they saw Tomahawkman as a family member, so they too saw his logic.

"I just feel that there's a greater meaning behind the sub-program, I mean, Humans can choose their net navi's, but customized ones are usually altered to suit a humans needs and personality, therefore meaning that Netto would need to find one, and most net navi's already have a human partner. If it did so come to the conclusion that Netto wanted me to be his partner then it might not work out, I was already customized to suit another human"

"But that didn't work out did it? He said he didn't want you so it was obviously not meant to be" Yuichiro added.

"I suppose, but we should probably activate the program and see what happens, we'll just have to trust Tomahawkman and hope that he knew what he was doing when he altered it"

The Hikari's nodded in agreement, holding each other's hands in the tense moment. Rockman activated the program which he had installed within his own body. Instantly, he knew the answer to everything that had been bugging him, but it was certainly an unexpected find. "I've got it…" He added.

"What's up?" Haruka asked inquisitively.

"Tomahawkman installed a brief about the program, it is true that Netto has to declare the name of his new net navi, but apparently the program runs checks to see if they are compatible, it already knows about Netto. But when Netto declares the name, the program will run tests for compatibility, if it all checks out then he should be able to go home, if not then…" He stopped when he realized the worst. "The program will be nulled and he'll have to search again"

"But we're running out of time, his mind is close to depletion. His body can't survive any longer without his mind" Haruka cried.

"I don't think Netto was supposed to be here for two years, I think Netto was supposed to figure all this out a little sooner and somehow run into you two whilst he was here, and basically do what I did today, find the program, activate it and be sent home after a week or so. But Netto must never have given that a thought, so he never really knew why he was here"

"Then we'll just have to hope that whosever name he chooses to say, will be a perfect navi for him" Haruka added, relaxing a little more.

Rockman knew very well that he was Netto's choice, but there was still the situation of his brother, although he figured Netto saying his name would get him home, which would work out for his parents and his favor, but what if the program forced them together? What if he was crazily sent to the human world instead? He'd be without his brother and more importantly, his brother would be without him.

Rockman knew that he was just wasting time, all the worrying he was doing was just making himself feel worse. So with that, he gently woke Netto up, who had been sleeping the whole time, whilst he and his parents and had been talking. Netto awoke, slowly but surely, opening his eyes and looking up at Rockman, who was smiling back down at him. "Rock-u-man?" He whispered, his voice hoarse and weak, he could barely turn himself over to look at his parents.

"Netto, I know this maybe a little soon, but it's time for you to go home, you've been here for too long and if you stay here any longer then you're going to lose connection to your body and you'll vanish forever, you're body will remain lifeless. So, I want you to return, but we've had a good time right?"

Netto nodded in reply, smiling and understanding what Rockman was getting at. "I'm so happy to have met you, you've changed my life and my brothers and we can't thank you enough for making us happy. I just want to know one last thing before you go home, is that okay?"

Netto nodded again, signaling him to proceed. "If there was any, any navi at all which you could have as a partner, who would it be?"

Netto's smile changed, he became confused "I thought… it was obvious?" He replied.

It was Rockman's turn to be confused, he looked back at Netto with a similar expression he had just had, "Me?" Rockman added.

"Yes, you… Rockman. I want you to be my net navi when I return"

Rockman felt the program running the checks against their compatibility, and after a few moments of silence, the checks were all positive, they were certainly a suitable match. He knew Netto would leave any moment, so with one last chance; he hugged Netto more passionately than he had ever done before and left him with a sweet and soft kiss to the lips. "I'll miss being with you like this, Netto-kun"

With that, Netto quickly disappeared, and back in the real world, his body jumped, his heart skipping a beat.

* * *

Don't worry, it's like… not over yet, there's another chapter to happily end the story ;) I'll get that uploaded soon.


	14. Together Again

_- Together Again -_

Final chapter! :P It does a fair bit of time-skipping this chapter; it's not me being lazy, I've done it for a reason. Enjoy!

* * *

Netto awoke with a frightening start, almost like he had been holding his breath for years… he panicked and ran his hands over his body to check he was real. It was a few moments before he noticed his parents just hovering above him, his mother was in tears and his father smiled happily seeing that his son had returned.

"Ma? Pa?" He said gently… it felt like he hadn't used his voice box in years! … Well, it had been years since he'd used this particular voice box.

"Yes, Netto-kun, it's us!" His mother, still in complete shock, forcefully hugged him whilst still weeping waterfalls.

Netto had no idea how to react, but decided a good start would be to hug his crying mother back. "Where's Rockman?" He realized shortly after that only moments ago he had been stuck on the net. He brought three fingers up to feel his lips… the kiss he had been given by Rockman on the net felt almost too real… and it was probably going to be the only one he was ever going to get from him.

His mother pulled back abruptly and stood up straight, wiping any remaining tears from her eyes. She looked wearily at her husband, both of them hummed at each other… you'd have to be a complete idiot not to realize that something had happened. "Well…" Haruka started…

"We don't know... He just disappeared, but I'm sure he'll be back." Yuichiro replied confidently.

Netto saddened a little and lay back down on the bed so that he would be able to turn away from them. "We'll go and let the nurses know that you're awake." Haruka said, feeling the best thing that Netto needed now was some peace and quiet to come to grips with what had passed.

Netto continuously looked at the screen where he was a few minutes ago… and it was completely empty.  
_  
Rockman… where did you go?_ Netto though to himself, he had hoped to greet Rockman once he awoke in his real body and surprise him about the success of the program working… but he wasn't there. _Maybe he's gone to see Dark Rockman? … _He thought, but even if that was the case, Rockman would have told him before he left or he would have even left a message with someone else… but nothing, he really had just disappeared.

Netto continued to stare at the screen, even long after his parents had returned. "Netto, the Nurse said you can go home in a few days after some tests, isn't that wonderful news?" Haruka said cheerfully… but she didn't get much of a response from her son, not even a smile.

"I've spoke to the net police and they said that they've called off the search for Rockman, but his twin brother Dark Rockman is still wanted, even if the navis he harmed a few years ago are perfectly sound, it's the fact that he went a bit loco and attacked them so harshly in the first place- I've tried to get things sorted for him, but it's not going very well…" Yuichiro said.

Hearing such news wasn't making him feel any better either… he wanted to _see _Rockman, not hear about him… and his brother, what kind of state was he in? He'd lost his brother to Netto and was still being pursued by the police… he seems like the kind of navi who would manage, but he must have felt so lonely.

His parents looked each other again and decided it was best to leave Netto alone for a while… "We'll come back and see you later."

Once the room was silent again, Netto decided to take a quick look around, he finally spotted his old pet, which was turned off and to add insult to injury, it was completely out of charge, so he couldn't even attempt to try and communicate with Rockman.

He lay back down on his bed and decided to fall back asleep… dreaming of a place where he felt far happier than now.

* * *

**A few months later…**

Netto was finally back in the comfort of his own home. Although it was getting less and less likely, he was _still _anticipating Rockman's return.

On this night when he was home alone, watching Television downstairs, he was flipping through the channels when he noticed a familiar face on the news report. He went back to that channel and his mouth gaped open in shock…

_"A rogue net-navi that has been wanted by the net police for the past three years was today finally captured and is currently being held in a high-security net prison, awaiting his punishment for the destruction of four customized net navis. The net police also revealed today that the rougue navi, known as Dark Rockman, is a duplicate of another net navi, known as Rockman. However the net police have already given up the search for him after being told that Rockman had not harmed any of those net navis."_

Netto was mortified… not only had Dark Rockman been captured, but not even the net police could find Rockman. Netto had no idea what to do… now that Dark Rockman had been captured there was nothing much he could do, his father wouldn't have been able to talk them out of it. All Netto could do was hope that the net police would be a little more lenient, even though a net navi's life was just as precious as a humans life, in his opinion anyway, there was always a chance to rebuild a net navi from their remains.

Netto prayed that things would work out for the better.

* * *

**One year later…**

Netto's life was pretty much back to normal, he had started attending school again… what little point there was since he had adopted a really lazy attitude towards it, like being late in the morning, not completing his homework and falling asleep in lesson… He had made loads of interesting new friends, even Enzan who he had come across on the net, was now speaking to him.

He was also in the same class as the four children who _used _to be friends with Damien, but no longer spoke to him since _that _day. On behalf of Rockman and Dark Rockman, he apologized on their behalf and told them about what he had been through. Apparently they too had heard about his struggle in the hospital and were very pleased with him being okay. He eventually made friends with them and they came to accept the fact that one day, Netto may be partnered with Rockman… but they weren't worried, they trusted Netto much more than Damien and they still had yet to understand why.

Although all of his friends had net navis, Netto was still holding out hope that Rockman would return to him and therefore decided not to have one even whilst he waited, just in case Rockman returned and he would feel awful about getting rid of the one he would currently have.

The days begun to pass by quickly and there was still no sign of Rockman ever returning. He kept his old pet to remind him to never give up hope; it was only a shame that he could never recharge it since his charger practically overloaded and short-circuited the day he was sent onto the net.

There was still no recent news on Dark Rockman's situation… all he knew was that he was still locked up in the net prison.

* * *

**Another year later, Netto's eleventh birthday…  
**

On his eleventh birthday, Netto had received a phone call during school from his father who was currently away on business. Apparently a surprise was waiting for him at home. He immediately jumped to the conclusion that maybe Rockman had finally showed up.

After receiving the call, he decided to head home early… he had to trick his teacher and school nurse into thinking he was sick before he was allowed to go home though, but by now he had done it plenty of times to know what they fell for and what they didn't.

He quickly skated home on his blades and eventually made it back in record time… his mother; Haruka, was very surprised to see him home so early.

"What are you doing home so early? You still have another three hours of school!" Haruka said, she was sat down at the kitchen table enjoying a coffee and a bite to eat. In front of her was a large box, with '_fragile' _plastered all over it.

"Is that for me?" He asked, his mother smiled and nodded in reply.

"I'm guessing this is why you're home early?" She continued to smile.

"Hmm…" He expected something a little smaller, like a new pet with Rockman living in it... but obviously not.

Haruka saddened a little and asked "What's wrong?"

"It doesn't matter; I'll give dad a call and thank him once I've opened it."

With that he took the parcel upstairs and placed it on his bed along with his backpack. He didn't open it up for a few minutes; he was busy wondering what it could be instead. He hoped it was something worth while and not just another pointless present. His father always sent him weird things when he was away in a different country- he didn't mind but most of the stuff was pointless.

He eventually decided to open it, after unfolding the first two pieces of card, a note was attached to one of them underneath and it was easy for him to recognize the style of writing.

_Happy birthday son! – I know you'll be happy with this present, I'm in Amerope at the moment and I managed to come across this. It cost quite a fair amount of money so be sure to take care of it! I hope you still have your old pet otherwise this would have all been for nothing._

Love Dad.

Netto hummed at the letter and his curiosity got the better of him… he was actually excited to see what it was inside the box. Lifting up the last flaps of the box he begun to see a familiar object, and he was actually rather excited to see what his father had bought him.

"Oh... my... god… a new charger?" He smiled widely; he practically ripped open the rest of the box and removed any remaining wrapping. He placed it in the exact same position his old charger was in and within moments he had hooked it up and had already placed his pet in the slot.

Since his pet hadn't been charged in three years, he realized he would have to wait an hour or two before it turned on.

"Well at least I know it's charging..." He said to himself as he noticed a solid orange light appear on the side of the device... "but it will probably take a few hours before it's done... so... what can I do for a few hours to pass the time?" He pondered to himself, since he was already sat down on his bed, he decided a nap would be ideal, not only would he be able to relax and continue from where he left off that morning, but the hours would fly by!

He quickly cleared the rubbish off his bed and threw it onto the floor. He climbed underneath the covers with himself still being fully clothed and immediately found himself in a very comfortable position... "Hmmm... this is bliss!"

Netto eventually fell asleep facing away from his pet so he wouldn't feel the need to look and check to see if it had turned on.

Hours begun to pass by and the day drew to a close; Netto was still in bed, well mentally anyway, he was barely lying on it as he found himself coming round.

Netto rubbed his eyes and moaned as he came round from his overly long nap, he could hear his mother calling his name from downstairs, and a few minutes later her telling him that dinner was almost ready.

When Netto realized _why _he had decided to have a nap, he quickly jumped out of bed and looked at his pet. As he had anticipated, it was back on for the first time in three years... "Could do with a clean..." he said as he noticed the bits of dust and data debris lying about on the inside of the pet, "but now, maybe I can find Rockman and he'll have somewhere to live!" He smiled.

"Netto!" His mother called up again... "Come on your dinner is getting cold!"

Netto had no choice but to comply with his mother wishes and go for his dinner, "Alright-alright, I'm coming down now!" He placed the pet back in the charger and sorted it out before he went downstairs so that it would clean itself up and refresh all of the data so that it would be like a brand new pet.

Once Netto was downstairs he quickly scoffed down his dinner so that he could go back up and start the search for Rockman, he reckoned that if Rockman had visited his pet, even if it was just once, it _might _remember his unique ID and be able to trace him on the net. It was a long shot but he was willing to try anything.

Although back upstairs, his pet had other ideas, the screen glowed brightly and lit up his bedroom like a bolt of lighting on a stormy night.

"Whu...?" A voice emulated from the screen after the light had dimmed... "Where? ..." _Rockman, _who had been living in the pet all this time, was finally able to see the human world from the screen of a pet again.

"_I'm going back upstairs! –I've finished!"_

Rockman heard the voice coming from the left side of the room and decided to hide in the recesses of the pet, hoping he wouldn't be spotted... He had no idea what was going on or where he even was, but he did eventually come to realize that he was supposed to be with Netto who should've woken up in the real world by now. _I need to get out of here! _He thought... _I need to find Netto!_

The door to the bedroom opened and the light came on, another voice came from the bottom of the stairs, "Netto! There's someone on the phone for you..." She paused for a couple of seconds to ask who the caller was. "It's Enzan! He said it's important."

Netto turned back round before he was even in view of the pet screen and hurried back down stairs.

"Hey Enzan-" Netto started, making his way back upstairs. Once inside his room he closed the door and sat down on his bed against the wall.

_Netto? ... _Rockman thought, still hiding in the pet. He came out a little more and saw a boy sitting on the bed.

"Well I suppose that's better than deletion isn't it? I mean... he'll be set free in ten years."

_"He'll only be set free if he's willing to partner up with a net operator, otherwise it's either deletion, continuous imprisonment or general labour around the net... to be honest, I doubt any of them sound appealing to a customized net navi."_

"I hope he's okay..."

_"Are you seriously worrying about the life of a net navi?"_

"He might seem bad to everyone else but I saw a side to him no one else will ever see, and that side is really caring and friendly."

_"Well, whatever you say. What have you got for you birthday anyway?"_

"Not much really, my father sent me the charger for the first pet model- I've managed to charge it up even thought it's been off for the past three years!"

_"You're still using that pet model? .. there's been like four upgrades since then!"_

"I didn't want to get rid of it in case there was a chance I could find Rockman again..."

_"I told you, we've been looking everywhere for him, if anything we've had a better chance at finding him than you ever have. Look, I know this may be hard to accept, but he's gone- just move on. Get a new net navi and for gods sake, get a new pet!" _

Enzan hung up the phone immediately, leaving Netto a little speechless... but he was starting to get to him. It had been three years and if Rockman was so intent on being his net navi then he would have shown up moments after Netto awoke back in the real world.

Netto lay on his bed and sighed in disappointment, he was starting to think that maybe even his pet might not be able to help him.

However, Rockman, who had listened to their entire conversation was in complete shock... He came out of hiding and definitely recognized the bright brown eyes and the beautiful brown hair, the only differences were his size and height, he was certainly a lot bigger, and his voice was far deeper... was this_ really _Netto?

"Um..." Rockman said to get Netto's attention, said person looked over to the screen after hearing a voice emulate from the pet… he wondered if it could be… "Netto?" Rockman added.

Netto got up from his bed and moved closer to the pet screen… his mouth dropped open to a large smile when he realized who it was… "Rockman! Oh my god! Is it _really _you?" He almost screamed.

Rockman himself couldn't help but grin widely "Sure is! … you sure you're Netto though? You've changed loads!"

Netto looked himself over and realized he did look quite a bit different from the last time they met… "Oh yeah, I'm eleven now…"

"You're eleven?"

"You've been gone for three years, after I woke up you just suddenly vanished and I thought maybe you'd gone to see your brother or something but... you never returned." Netto suddenly saddened a little and sat down on his desk chair.

"I don't know what happened either… but I'm so sorry for leaving you. I'm guessing the programme transferred me to your pet but since it was low on charge it put me in stasis until you were able to turn it on."

"And they don't make these chargers anymore; they're really hard to come by! Lucky my father found one in Amerope and sent it to me as a gift. He knew how much I wanted to find you… and I just… can't believe it's actually happened…" He could feel tears forming in his eyes.

Rockman smiled softly and said "well I'm here now and… I'm happy to be your net navi." Netto took the pet out from the charger and squeezed it tightly against his chest…

"Let's always be together! And When Dark Rockman gets out of net prison, I promise I'll find a way for him to be with us as well." Netto smiled.

Rockman's smile faded… he remembered the conversation Netto had with Enzan about his brother before… "My brother…"

"Oh…" Netto's smile faded also… "Well, he got caught by the net police about a year ago, and he's serving a ten-year sentence. But he'll be out in no time at all and when he is, I'll make him my net navi as well, and we can all be together."

His brother did reassure him that he would be alright on his own… for once, he decided to trust his brothers instincts and hoped he knew what he was doing. "Okay, thank you… Netto." He smiled.

_And thank you, Tomahawkman… because of you, I finally found the perfect operator, friend and maybe someday… something more?_

* * *

Awhh.. well I don't know how you feel but I'm really proud of the ending, it's really sweet :D I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing it!


End file.
